How much rehearsal time for Nutcracker supernumerary?

[Hilarion]

I've finally got up the nerve to audition for a local Nutcracker, for the role of party father. The audition has not been scheduled yet, and I may not make the cut...however, if I do, I expect there will be a lot of rehearsal involved, even for a minor part like mine.

 

I'm curious to know ahead of time just how much rehearsal/preparation time is generally expected for a Nutcracker party parent. Have any of you been a supernumerary in a ballet, and, if so, what were your experiences?

[Mel Johnson]

For supers, as opposed to dancing members of the cast, you may get 3 or 4 hours of rehearsal, tops. Time doesn't permit more, because time costs money, and supers don't actually do very much.

[Tancos]

It probably depends on the production and whether the parents dance. I've been a father in one of the local productions for several years now. There is a one- to two-hour rehearsal one evening each week for about six weeks, then longer reheasals every evening during the week before the first performance. The parents in our production do have a dance of their own, and while the dance is not difficult, it does require some practice.

[Hilarion]

I forgot to ask about the audition itself - what does that entail?

[Mel Johnson]

Don, if the production follows the Soviet ones like the Vainonen and the Grigorovitch, there are "dancing" parents, and "decor" parents. The "Decor" ones are the supers, and don't actually do much beside stand there and watch the dancing ones.

 

For a touring company, the audition for supers is often just a look to see whether you can walk acceptably and which costume you might fit.

 

Now, the Russian companies aren't bound by such stringent union rules as American and European ones like the Royal and Stuttgart, but still, rehearsal costs money, and the simpler the non-dancing roles, the less spent on pianist, ballet master, crew, and so on.

 

Since it's a local production, if you dance, then you're not a super!

[onyx]

I'm a parent in a local school's production of the Nutcracker (we get professinal dancers for the Sugar Plum Fairy and Prince).We do two dances and practice for 2 hours every Sunday in November and have a weekend dress rehearsal at the studio the week before the performance and a dress rehearsal at the theater the Thursday evening before the preformances( we do 5 over a weekend - 2 matinees, three evenings). The father's part is a little more involved,tho,and reqiures another hour or two rehearsal on the Sundays.