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MBJH student cast as Clara in The Nutcracker

Photo by Madoline Markham.

Mary Margaret Freeland’s 13th birthday present arrived early.

A week before her big day, she found out she was cast in the role of Clara in Birmingham Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker.

The news, she said, was better than her birthday.

“I was happy and shocked,” she said. “It didn’t sink in until after we started practicing two weeks later.”

Mary Margaret started begging to take dancing as soon as she was old enough to talk, her mom, Ann, said. At age 4, she saw her first Nutcracker performance and emerged with a single aspiration. She wanted to be Clara when she grew up.

After five years in other roles in the production, Mary Margaret knows the scenes well. One of her favorites is the party scene.

“You get to clap, skip and hop,” she said. “You get to express fun on stage.”

She also likes the candy scene’s upbeat music and how the ballerinas get to “hop on pointe.”

In preparation for the December shows, Mary Margaret’s schedule is full. She practices for two and a half hours Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, for an hour and a half on Wednesday and for four to seven hours on Saturday. That makes for up to 16 hours in the studio each week, not to mention several hours she spends at practice for the seventh-grade dance team at Mountain Brook Junior High School. 

One day a week she wears her leotard and tights under her dance team outfit so she can drive straight to ballet afterward. It’s usually 8 p.m. when she gets home.

“On the days when I don’t have dance, I find I am really bored,” she said.

At home, Mary Margaret often closes off the living room doors and practices new choreography.

No stranger to the stage, Mary Margaret performed as a part of her voice and piano lessons before choosing to focus on dance.

“I stopped getting nervous at the performances because of the lights,” she said. “You don’t feel anything once you get on stage. I let my feet guide me.”

Mary Margaret will perform at the BJCC Concert Hall Saturday, Dec. 14 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 15 at 2 p.m. Birmingham Ballet will also hold a Nutcracker performance Dec. 14 at 2 p.m. and a Mutt-cracker Dec. 13 at 7:30 p.m. For tickets and more information, visit birminghamballet.com.

Mountain Brook Cast Members

Birmingham Ballet’s The Nutcrakcer

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