Primary Division Student Registration
for “The San Jose Nutcracker”
Enrolled Student Participation Requirements
Eligibility
Students must be currently enrolled in Primary A, Primary B, Primary C, Primary Flex, Primary Boys, or the Japantown 11:00 AM class to participate.
Availability and Performance Conflicts
Students should ideally have 100% availability for all December Theatre Rehearsals and Performances.
This year, Nutcracker performances run from December 19–27. Because of the extended performance period and the fact that many families make holiday plans during this time, we will not limit conflicts on December 26 and 27. Please list all conflicts, including conflicts on December 26 and 27, when registering.
Primary Division students are cast in groups and will not perform in every performance. However, because Performance Casting is not determined at the time of registration, students should be available for as many performances and December rehearsals as possible.
For Primary Division students, we anticipate that most students will perform in approximately 2–4 of the eight full performances, although the exact number will depend on casting needs, available costumes, choreography, and the number of participating students.
Conflict Guidelines
Please list all known conflicts on your registration form.
For In-Studio Rehearsals in October and November:
One or two conflicts can generally be accommodated with approval.
Three or more conflicts may prevent a student from being cast.
If your student has three or more In-Studio Rehearsal conflicts, please contact school@newballet.com before assuming that participation is not possible. Our goal is to include as many students as we reasonably can while ensuring that everyone has enough rehearsal time to be prepared to perform.
If disclosed conflicts prevent a student from being included in Preliminary Casting, the participation fee will be refunded.
Conflicts disclosed after Preliminary Casting has been posted may result in a student being unable to participate, in which case the participation fee cannot be refunded. Please review school calendars, family travel, extracurricular activities, and other commitments carefully before registering.
Absences and Casting Changes
Conflicts and absences may affect casting, even when they were disclosed in advance, excused, or unavoidable.
If a student misses multiple rehearsals because of illness, injury, family circumstances, or other reasons, casting may need to be changed. In some cases, a student may ultimately be unable to perform if they have missed too much rehearsal time to learn and perform the choreography safely and confidently.
Preliminary Casting
Preliminary Casting will be emailed to families by September 28.
Preliminary Casting indicates the role or roles a student will begin learning. Preliminary Casting may be modified after the first or second rehearsal based on the needs of the production.
Performance Casting
Performance Casting will be announced by November 1. We are sometimes able to announce Primary Division Performance Casting earlier.
Please do not purchase tickets to watch your student until Performance Casting has been released, so that you can purchase tickets for the correct performance(s).
Once Performance Casting is announced, it cannot be changed by family request. We cannot alter casting to accommodate extracurricular activities, family events, preferred performance dates, or similar requests.
“The San Jose Nutcracker” is a significant time commitment, and we understand that not every family can accommodate the schedule. Please review all rehearsal and performance dates carefully before completing the Nutcracker Student Registration Form.
Performance Casting may still be changed by New Ballet staff after it is posted because of illness, injury, emergencies, or other unforeseen circumstances. If New Ballet makes such a change, the box office will do its best to assist families with previously purchased tickets.
Please continue to keep your student available for all performance dates for which you have not listed an approved conflict, even after Performance Casting has been announced, as emergency casting changes may sometimes be necessary.
Shoes, Tights, and Leotards
Depending on their role, students may be required to purchase additional shoes, tights, and/or leotards for the production.
Students cast as Dewdrop Fairies will need a white or flesh-toned liner leotard.
Roles in “The San Jose Nutcracker”
Roles
Students in the following levels will generally be considered for the roles listed below.
Primary A, Primary B, Primary C, Primary Flex Girls, Primary Boys, and the Japantown 11:00 AM class: Dewdrop Fairies or Frogs
Students may indicate either Dewdrop Fairy or Frog as their first preference on the registration form. We will do our best to accommodate preferences, subject to casting needs and availability.
Girls in Primary C may also be selected as Lead Dewdrop Fairies, a role with additional stage time.
Boys in Primary C and Primary Flex will generally be cast as Party Boys. We strongly encourage these students to participate as Party Boys; however, because this role requires a greater time commitment, families may instead request Frog casting if the Party Boy commitment is too much this year.
If you would prefer your Primary C or Primary Flex boy to be cast as a Frog rather than a Party Boy, please email school@newballet.com as soon as possible.
Rehearsal Schedule
Rehearsals will generally take place on the days and during the time ranges listed on the webpages linked below. Students should be available for all rehearsal times listed for the roles for which they may be considered before committing to participate in “The San Jose Nutcracker.”
Specific rehearsal times may change as the production progresses. Families should be prepared for Saturday and Sunday rehearsal times between October and December to shift by up to a few hours when necessary, although significant schedule changes are not anticipated.
