The Snow King and Queen will soon grace the stage at Belk Theater for the Charlotte Ballet's annual performance of "Nutcracker." The show runs Friday, Dec. 6- Sunday, Dec. 22. Before the seats are filled, weeks of rehearsals and months of costume work come together to shape the annual holiday tradition.

CLTtoday sat down with two returning dancers, Anna Owen and Rees Launer, before this season's show.

Q: First, what are your roles in this year's performance?
Anna: I'm doing Sugar Plum, Rose, and Snow Queen.
Rees: This year, I'm doing Sugar Plum Cavalier, Snow King, Arabian, and Clara and Fritz's dad.

Q: How many seasons have you done those roles?
Rees: I've done Snow King, Arabian, and dad since I joined the company. So this is my sixth season and this will be my third year performing Sugar [Plum]. I also performed "Nutcracker" when I was in school.
Anna: This is my second season and second year doing those roles. At my previous company where I was an apprentice, I got to do some things with the school. I did Sugar Plum and Snow Queen but nothing this big.

Q: Do you have a favorite role so far?
Anna: The other roles are fun because you get to dance with a partner, but I really love Rose because you get to go on stage, do your thing, and then run off stage and then do it again. It's always really fun.

Rees: I probably have the most fun doing Arabian. I get to strut around the stage and hit a couple of poses and do some big lunges and fun arms. I get to just act it up a little bit and have some fun with it.

Dancers Rees Launer and Anna Mains captivate the audience during the Charlotte Ballet's 2023 performance of "The Nutcracker." | Photo by Taylor Jones via Charlotte Ballet

Q: What's been the most challenging part of learning the different roles of the show?
Anna: Definitely Sugar Plum because it's a little more to take on to do the paw, then variation, then coda. Sugarplum is known as the main role of Nutcracker so it just feels like a little bit more pressure.

Rees: Sugar Plum is the most all-around role. You do a lot of partnering, a lot of dancing on your own. It's big jumps and the turns and a lot of pointe work for the ladies. I think the challenge is getting in shape for that and getting prepared.

Q: "Nutcracker" has been in Charlotte and performed by the Ballet for many years. How does it feel to be part of that tradition?
Rees: It's a lot of fun. I think "Nutcracker" is well-loved and a Christmas tradition. It brings up a lot of memories and it's fun to be a part of that in any show. It's surprisingly easy to feel the energy from the audience when you're on stage. It's holiday cheer personified into a show.

Anna: It's really special to feel the energy of the audience. There's something about "Nutcracker" that's really familiar and comforting. So, it's really nice to come back to every year and relive all of it again.

Q: What's it like performing with child dancers on stage?
Rees: It's a new experience for some of the kids. They've never done it before. So they're having a good time, not taking it too seriously. We're in the field of art and dance and a part of our job is to keep a sense of child play in us. I think it's always fun to have actual kids in the studio and see them flying around and goofing around. It brings the fun, for sure.

Anna: It's cool to see them in the studio watching because then you kind of get to see it through their eyes. It takes me back to being their age and looking up to dancers and watching them. It seems like the coolest thing you could ever do. You kind of forget that feeling when you're "just in it" all the time, you forget this is pretty amazing. So it's cool to relive it through their eyes.

"Nutcracker" features mesmerizing dance set to Tchaikovsky’s music performed live by the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. | Photo via WCNC

Q: What's something special about the show most people may not know?
Anna: For me, it's really special to get to watch all my friends and colleagues in all their different roles because typically, with a normal ballet, you're doing things the whole show. But with "Nutcracker," you have your role, you do it, then for the rest of the time, you get to watch other people do their roles. So that's really cool to see.

Rees: Usually, all of the wings have two or three or more people than them. So there's kind of an extra little audience that no one can see which is fun and adds to the big celebration.

Q: What's something fun you do or wear on stage that you're excited about?
Rees: I'll get gold makeup and just put it on a collar bone or a little extra something. I don't even think it's necessarily visible from the audience, but it's kind of fun to deck out little extra gold flares.

Anna: For Snow [Queen], I love to do glitter to make it special. It helps you get into it too.

Q: Last question, when you're not on stage, where are your three favorite spots to visit around Charlotte?
Anna: My three favorite spots around Charlotte are Freedom Park, Amélie's Bakery and Cafe, and Lake Norman.

Rees: Rosie’s Coffee and Wine Garden, Oakdale Greenhouse, and Freedom Park

Dreaming of sugar plums? Make the dream a reality. Tickets are on sale now.