Straz Snags
Star Dancers
for NGB’s Nutcracker
Next Generation Ballet’s Artistic Director
and former New York City Ballet
principal dancer Philip Neal calls
in some famous friends to dance
Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier.
It’s no secret that Next Generation
Ballet (NGB) nets top notch talents
for the iconic roles in Nutcracker. The
name of the ballet itself is synonymous
with those nine twinkling notes of
Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Sugar
Plum Fairy.” Although many delightful
moments exist in the ballet, the most
anticipated arrives when the Sugar
Plum Fairy takes the stage, whisking the
audience into a tour de force of classical
ballet that culminates in the grand pas
de deux of the Sugar Plum Fairy and her
Cavalier.
The most trendy, well-known and
social media savvy ballerina out there
is Sara Mearns. Hailed as the American
ballerina of this age, Mearns is the face
of Guerlain, Cole Hann and the star of
a new ad campaign by Hewlett Packard.
Mearns’ pointe shoes are part of the
Instruments of American Excellence
exhibit at the Kentucky Museum. Most
recently, Vanity Fair profi led Mearns
before her leading role on Broadway in
The Red Shoes, the stage adaptation of
the infamous 1948 fi lm.
“She’s the perfect hybrid of the
Balanchine legacy – that wildness, the
recklessness – with classicism. She’s the
perfect bridge between Balanchine and
what’s next,” says Philip Neal, artistic
director of Next Generation Ballet, who
convinced Mearns to perform the Sugar
Plum Fairy for the Friday and Saturday
shows of NGB’s Nutcracker.
Her Cavalier, performed by NYCB
principal Amar Ramasar, almost
immediately leaves the Morsani stage to
leap into his role as Jigger Craigin in the
Broadway revival of Carousel.
“Amar is outgoing, gregarious,” says Neal.
“He talks to everyone. He’ll talk to all
the students, and I love that about him.
Everyone wants to work with Amar
and choreographers gravitate to him
because of how he moves. It’s incredible
to be able to bring both Sara and Amar
here, especially to dance the Balanchine
version of the pas de deux.”
Two other mentees and friends of Neal’s,
Patricia Delgado and Gonzalo Garcia,
perform the roles for the Thursday night
Nutcracker. Yes, Patricia Delgado, the
Patricia Delgado of Miami City Ballet and
renowned protégé of Edward Villella.
“Patricia is – in life – the essence of the
Sugar Plum Fairy. She’s charming, sweet,