Dancers Put in Hours Of Work for 'Nutcracker'.

Byline: Sandy Starr For the Journal

* Eight East Mountain and Estancia Valley performers are contributing their talents to this year's show

Dancers from New Mexico Ballet Company are in the studio of the Dance Theatre of the Southwest rehearsing for the upcoming production of "The Nutcracker."

Among them are eight young performers from the East Mountains and Estancia Valley.

Performances are scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend on the University of New Mexico campus and in Sandia Park on Dec. 11. For a Saturday just three weeks away from the actual performance, the room is deceptively calm. Dancers line the edge of the studio floor, some leaning against the wall as if to conserve the energy that powers their sleek young bodies. A few twirl or spin, long muscled legs lift, backs arch without obvious effort, pretty arms and graceful hands flutter. A girl leans over and exchanges a word or two with another dancer. There is a giggle from one corner of the room. It all seems so well, relaxed.

Then the well-known strains of Tchaikovsky fill the room, heralding the snow scene from "The Nutcracker." Within minutes, an observer would forget it isn't even a dress rehearsal. The dancers leap. They fly. They transform.

They repeat and repeat movements and scenes, stopping long enough to look at a video of past performances, listen to the beat and watch how a certain turn or leap fits exactly into the music. Then they begin again. Finally they break, breathing hard. Although it may have appeared effortless, in truth it is a strenuous, exhausting process.