The Nutcracker Performed By The East Central Ohio Dance Theater

The East Central Ohio Dance Theater held its annual performance of The Nutcracker this weekend at Secrest Auditorium.

The classic Christmas ballet tells the tale of young Clara, and her nutcracker gift which comes to life. Zanesville native Whitney Lewis directed and choreographed the performance. She even introduced 14-year-old Hana Le to her love of dance.

"I was a gymnast and i wanted to try something new," said Le. "Whitney used to coach me, and it looked like so much fun and it was beautiful."

Near capacity crowds came out to enjoy Hana Le and the 65 other dancers in the 2014 Nutcracker performance. Family, friends, and dance enthusiasts watched gleefully from the audience as Clara fell in and out of dream land.

13 year-old Grace Johnson said, "it’s an awesome opportunity to perform because there’s so many different rolls and levels of it, and just being able to perform it for everyone is just an awesome feeling."

The dancers didn’t take their chance to perform the classic ballet lightly. Months of hard work and practice went into making the annual Nutcracker performance a success.