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Coquitlam student is Clara in The Nutcracker

Coquitlam’s Jasmine Potter is excited to play the lead character in the Goh Ballet production of The Nutcracker.
nutcracker
Tri-City dancers Sydney Scorda (Little Lamb), Brittany Bishop (Dew Drop), Catherine Dogelis (Party boy), Kyra Soo (Arabian) and Jasmine Potter (Clara), prepare for their roles in Goh Ballet’s The Nutcracker. The production runs from Dec. 14 to 19 at The Centre in Vancouver.

She’s a little bit nervous because “there’s so much to remember.”

But, otherwise, Coquitlam’s Jasmine Potter is excited to play the lead character in the Goh Ballet production of The Nutcracker.

A Grade 6 student at Queen of All Saints, Potter was picked by the Vancouver company as one of four Claras to grace The Centre stage this month.

“It’s very fun and there’s a lot of acting, which makes me a little bit nervous,” the 11-year-old girl told The Tri-City News last week. “There’s so much to remember.”

Potter, who portrayed a dragonfly last year and, in previous Nutcrackers, a party girl and Little Lamb, will transform into Clara on Dec. 15 and for the closing show on Dec. 19, both at 7:30 p.m.

There’ll be lots of eyes on her, she said, as several family and friends have already secured tickets to watch her dance in the starring role.

Her favourite scene? “That’s hard,” she said. “I like everything: the battle, the lifts, the ending.”

Potter’s passion for ballet comes naturally as her mother, Bonnie, also studied the dance form as a child and her grandfather is a fan of the two-act classic tale, the mom said.

“She loves ballet,” said Bonnie Potter, who is currently driving her daughter to Vancouver six times a week for rehearsals. “There may be a family tradition but it’s all her: She’s got to where she is right now, all by herself.”

Meanwhile, also in the ballet are Coquitlam residents Brittany Bishop (Dewdrop) and Sydney Scorda (Little Lamb) and, from Port Coquitlam, Kyra Soo (Arabian) and Catherine Dogelis (Party Boy).

• Tickets for The Nutcracker — running Dec. 14 to 19 with principal dancers Jerome Tisserand and Elizabeth Murphy of the Pacific Northwest Ballet — are available through gohnutcracker.com. The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts is located at 777 Homer St.