This past summer, Port Coquitlam prodigy Michelle Khoo clinched gold at the prestigious Wien Welt Wettbewerb in Vienna - the first time a Canadian has won the highest honour at the International Ballet and Contemporary Dance Competition.
Her company back home, Vancouver's Goh Ballet, took pride and rewarded the Grade 10 Magee secondary student with a dream role in its Nutcracker production this year: Clara, the little girl who is guided by the Sugar Plum Fairy through the Land of Snow to the Kingdom of Sweets.
Khoo, 15, said she was thrilled to be picked as the lead, a part she will portray for the third time with Goh - although, for its 2014 show, Khoo will be on pointe.
"It's a challenge and I'm excited," said Khoo, who was also chosen to be Dew Drop. "It's very special for me."
This year's production by choreographer Anna-Marie Holmes will also include many world-class guest artists, among them, Chuanyan Yu and Hailing Zhang from China's Liaoning Ballet. The pair won the grand prix at the same Vienna contest Khoo performed in; they will play the Snow Queen and Snow King. As well, Argentine-born Paloma Herrara, a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, will be the Sugar Plum Fairy. Khoo said she's honoured to share the stage with Herrara, who is expected to retire next year.
Leslie Dala will conduct musicians from the Vancouver Opera Orchestra through the Tchaikovsky score while local gymnasts, choirs and ballroom dancers also will fill out the ensemble.
Port Moody's Cierra Munro, 17, a Grade 12 student at Dr. Charles Best secondary, has been in all six of Holmes' version of the Nutcracker for Goh. This year, she'll be tackling four characters including a dewdrop in Waltz of the Flowers.
A Goh member for nine years, Munro said the guest artists will add some extra pizzazz. "For me, it's a really good opportunity to perform on stage with these people and in front of a live orchestra. It's really a privilege."
Meanwhile, Kaya Szlachetka of Coquitlam, who was Clara in 2011, is also taking on four roles in the Nutcracker including a snowflake and Merliton.
A Grade 9 Best student, Szlachetka has been with Goh since the age of four. "I always had a lot of energy when I was younger. I started with gymnastics but my mom also put me in ballet because I loved listening to a show called Toy Castle and my favourite part was the ballerina. I always wanted to do ballet."
The 14-year-old girl said she looks forward to performing the annual classic "because it's so magical and it's a great way to kick off the holiday season."
