As the first semester comes to a close and the exam season rolls in, so do the holidays. Many young ballerinas start their most strenuous time of training as they prepare for their roles in the classic ballet, The Nutcracker. Despite how effortless of a performance the audience sees, dancers pour their blood, sweat and tears in order to give their all on stage. Every detail must be perfect, and perfection takes time.

Annabelle Bulger (’25), a dancer for Next Generation Ballet, knows this process all too well. This season, she finds herself extra busy, as many dancers do, with multiple roles. In the nutcracker, you can find her on the stage as a butterfly. She will also be preforming in Next Gen’s JFK piece, in a role similar to that of a Radio City Rockette.

“To just to be in the nutcracker, we often start out age eight, you start with one [role] and depending on the company you are in you can get multiple roles as you move up,” Bulger said. “I’ve been doing it since I was seven, actually.”

Every weekday, Bulger and her fellow Next Gen. ballerinas practice for four hours in the evening, perfecting the details of their show. The work doesn’t let up on weekends, however, as she finds herself back at her studio for another four hours, running through the choreography to fix any errors.

“Our average rehersal is spent at the beginning of the process learning all of the choreography and around this time of year we are cleaning everything, blocking, making sure we all know what we’re doing and making sure it really looks the best it can be,” she said.

It is no secret that the world of a dancer is a lot of physical and mental labor. This applies to all areas of dance, but especially ballerinas. To give your time away as a busy student to contribute to the artistry of your community is a gift that Bulger gets to give every holiday season.

Bulger can be seen dancing in her role at the Straz Center in Morsanni Hall on Dec. 21-23.

“The nutcracker definently gives back in more ways than one. For many young people, it’s their first ballet that they see or preform in. It’s most kids first exposure to ballet, and inspires them to pursue it more and more,” Bulger said. “It’s a yearly tradition that brings the dance community together in hard work, laughs, tears and culminates in the performances we remember the most.”