‘Snow’ shoes

You don’t have to be a ballet fan to know of the Sugar Plum Fairy and other treasures from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, but at Sonoma Conservatory of Dance a different seasonal tradition is taking place. This year marks the 10th anniversary of SCD’s holiday classic, The Snow Maiden, an original ballet choreographed by Brooke Byrne and SCD’s Executive and Artistic Director, Patty O’Reilly.

This enchanting  performance, based on Russian folklore, is a celebration of family, love, and adventure, one that now charts SCD’s legacy. “My first experience dancing The Snow Maiden I remember I was a snowball. The last one, the Snow Maiden herself!” says Olivia Cole, an SCD graduate. “Each year I would be able to learn and perform a new role, perhaps be able to help teach the parts I had performed before, and just have so much fun in the process.” 

Cole now dances with Diablo Ballet, an award-winning professional dance company based in Walnut  Creek, after starting there as a trainee in 2019. Natalie Palmgren, another SCD alum now dancing  professionally, speaks fondly of her experiences in The Snow Maiden as well: “As a child, the tradition of hearing the music from rehearsal became something that ushered in the holiday season.” 

While both Cole and Palmgren continue to cherish their memories of performing SCD’s original ballets,  their professional careers have brought them back to broader ballet holiday traditions. “While most dancers my age profess to be burning out on performing The Nutcracker, it is still new to me,” says Cole. In November, she performed in the Diablo Ballet’s The Nutcracker Suite at the Lesher Center for the Arts.

This year marks her fourth time  performing the holiday classic with Diablo Ballet, but only the fifth in her life. Palmgren, now a dancer with the  cutting-edge BalletRED in Los Angeles, will be performing as a guest in Oakland Ballet’s The Nutcracker next month on December 17 and 18. 

Here in Sonoma, SCD’s The Snow Maiden will be performed on Saturday and Sunday, December 10 and 11, 1pm, at the Sebastiani Theatre. Get tickets and find out more about the company at Sonomaconservatoryofdance.org/events.