For many, the Sugar Plum Fairy needs no introduction. She is the magical legendary creature who epitomizes goodness and light and transcends any earthly description.
Composer Peter Illyich Tchaikovsky gave her a voice when he discovered the celesta (musical instrument) and gave it a massive solo in the Nutcracker. The celesta has a smooth and beautiful tone and its inventor named it because of its “celestial” heavenly sound, and so the Sugar Plum Fairy appears to come to us directly from heaven. The Sugar Plum Fairy speaks to a new audience every year, and every child in the US experiences her at least once in their life if they’re lucky, and some will be transformed by her.
I came to realize the importance of this mythical character through the experience of performing that role in the Nutcracker for 25 years (especially in the SF Bay Area where I came to be affectionately called: “Rosine Bena, the Sugar Plum Fairy”).
I remember going to the DMV and getting my license photo taken or to the dentist to get my tooth filled or to the doctors or to the grocery store. Each time someone would say: “it’s the Sugar Plum Fairy.” At first, I found this annoying, but I later realized that this title had nothing to do with me or any person for that matter. It had to do with a belief. The Sugar Plum Fairy is about the hope and faith that there is something in life far greater, more beautiful, and more powerfully good than any earthly human being. We can each aspire to be like her in some way and she will bring us to a higher spiritual place.
That became really evident to me in (of all places) the doctor’s office when I was having a problem with allergies and getting my sinuses drained. I was feeling just horrible sitting with all these tubes up my nose, when I looked over at the doorway filled with a group of adoring faces looking at me. At first, I felt very embarrassed, but then I realized that they did not see a silly woman with tubes hanging out of her nose – they saw what they wanted to see: the Sugar Plum Fairy.
The importance of this character became more and more obvious to me, especially when the Sugar Plum Fairy was invited to visit the Children’s Cancer ward in San Francisco. I thought that I was not emotionally strong enough to visit dying children and their families, and I did not want to go. But the Sugar Plum Fairy was needed, and so I donned my pink tutu and pointe shoes and went. Contrary to my fears, it was one of the most uplifting experiences of my life. It was not only the children that touched my heart but the hope and faith in the eyes of their parents that most moved me. The Sugar Plum Fairy is far greater than a mere role in a ballet.
SNB performs The Peanutcracker-The Story In A Nutshell annually at both the Carson City Community Center and at the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts in Reno for both the general public and approximately 4,000 public school children. So it is with great joy that I continue to pass on the legacy of that magical character to other generations of dancers. This year, I proudly pass the legacy to SNB soloist, Carlee Bertero.
Carlee was first introduced to the Sugar Plum when she attended SNB’s Peanutcracker with her Kindergarten class. She told her mother after the performance that it was her dream to someday dance in SNB’s Peanutcracker. Her dream came true in 2012 when Carlee became an SNB Apprentice and got to perform in the Waltz of the Flowers in Peanutcracker. Since then she has worked her way up through the ranks at SNB, being raised from Apprentice to Corps de Ballet to Demi-soloist and then to Soloist in 2021. This year she will get the chance for the first time to become that magical creature filled with warmth, love and hope: the Sugar Plum Fairy.
Bertero teaches on staff at the SNB Academy and specializes in the lower ballet levels as she has a gift for working with younger children. I know that when Carlee walks on the stage this December at the Carson City Community Center and at the Pioneer Center, the Sugar Plum Fairy will once again have the ability to transform the lives of young audiences and their families.
For ticket information and information about SNB and the SNB Academy visit www.sierranevadaballet.org or call 775-360-8663
Alexander Cain Biber (Principal Dancer/ Ballet Master/ Choreographer in Residence/Teacher) grew up in a performing arts family and has loved theater and performing from an early age. He began his ballet training, at the age of 14, with Rosine Bena at Western Nevada Performing Arts Center – studying ballet, jazz, tap, and musical theater. In 2003, Alexander became an apprentice with Sierra Nevada Ballet and was promoted to the first company in 2006, to soloist in 2008, and to Principal in 2012.
Jennifer Lightfoot-Johnson (Grant Writer and Development Consultant) comes to SNB with 16 years of experience, both professionally and as a volunteer, in grant writing and working in the nonprofit sector.
Jennifer Boyle August (Guest Teacher/Choreographer) discovered her love of dance in Reno, Nev. During her time at Reno High School, Jennifer took a Modern class at TMCC, with instruction in Graham, Luigi, and Horton dance technique. While Jennifer was educated in other areas of dance, she felt these styles spoke to her more than anything else. After graduating from Reno High School, she moved to Boston to study dance with Joan Palladino at Dean College where she received her Associate’s Degree in Dance. She was then hand-selected by Judith Jamison to study at Alvin Ailey Summer Dance Intensive program in New York City.
Sara Weir (Demi Soloist) was born in Provo, Utah, and started ballet at age three. She trained in dance with Trisha Wilstead at Rocky Mountain Dance and then trained with Brittany Squires and Heather Gray at Jaquiline’s School of Ballet. She performed professionally with Showcase and Theater Ballet at Brigham Young University, Utah Regional Ballet, and Sacramento Ballet.
Carlee Bertero (Soloist/ Teacher) was born in northern Nevada and began studying dance at an early age at Fascinating Rhythm School of Performing Arts in Reno. Carlee was invited to join the Sierra Nevada Ballet Apprentice program in 2012; was raised to the first company in 2013; to featured corps member in 2016, to Demi-Soloist in 2017, and to Soloist in 2021. She has performed in many SNB story ballets such as Peanutcracker-The Story In A Nutshell, Giselle, Swan Lake, Coppelia, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty-A Fairy’s Tale, A Midsummer Nights Dream- A Steam Punk Ballet, and Twelfth Night-A Ballet Noir. She has performed as a featured dancer with SNB annually in Dancing By The River as part of Reno’s Artown Festival and in SNB’s annual Brew Brats and Ballet in Reno and Carson City.
Domingo Rubio (Second Permanent Guest Artist/Guest Teacher) is SNB’s second Permanent Guest Artist as of May 2005. He has danced professionally for some 30 years. Domingo has danced with the Joffrey Ballet and Ballet Hispanico and was featured in the Robert Altman film, The Company. Rubio danced the role of Maxfield Parrish in SNB’s, A Painter’s Love Story and is a featured artist in SNB’s Dancing By the River and annual ballet classics.
Sam Weber (First Permanent Guest Artist/ Guest Teacher) is SNB’s first Permanent Guest Artist and is a founding member of the Company. He was one of the first permanent guest artists of The Reno Ballet under the direction of Rosine Bena. Weber danced with the Joffery Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, Peninsula Ballet Theatre, and The Jazz Tap Ensemble. Besides being a fine ballet dancer, Weber is considered one of the greatest tap dancers in the world. He is known as “the fastest feet in tap.”
Gina Nelson (SNB Company Coordinator for Carson City and SNB Board Member) is originally from Napa Valley, Calif., and a long-time supporter of the arts and arts education. Gina worked as a crisis prevention specialist in a day treatment elementary school and was a counselor/teacher in a non-public school for at-risk boys.
Steven M. Porter (SNB Board President/SNB CEO) is a long-time devotee of the arts. Originally from the East Coast, Steve was raised with love and devotion to all the arts.
Cathy Mercer (SNB Company Coordinator for Reno/Managing Director/Board Member) grew up in Carson City and is a former dancer with a long-time devotion to the art form.
Ananda Bena-Weber (Associate Director, Dance Artist/ Ballerina/Principal/Teacher) is a principal dancer and NY award-winning artist and the Associate Director of the Sierra Nevada Ballet and a founding member. She has danced professionally as a soloist with the Reno Ballet when it was formed in 1994/95 and 1996. She danced with Perspectives Dance Theatre and Fascinating Rhythm Productions. She has appeared as a featured soloist with Sam Weber performing in Morton Gould’s “Concerto for Tap Dancer and Orchestra” throughout the SF Bay Area. She has appeared in principal roles in several original dance works such as Take Me To The River and Blue Rondo, and classics such as Les Sylphides, Romeo and Juliet, and Paquita.
Rosine Bena (Founder and Artistic Director/Master Teacher)
Sophia Riella (Trainee) was born in Truckee, Calif. She started ballet at the age of two with Sherrie Petersen, Sierra Ballet School and continued there for six years while also studying Irish and Scottish Dance with Lindsey Marccaci in Lake Tahoe and at Truckee Dance Factory doing competition dance. She has also studied classical music, composing, and piano with Elaine Courtney and has studied voice with Stephanie McMoy.
Erin Garman (First Year Company) began dancing at the age of 12 at Scene Stealers Theatre Arts where she trained in jazz, tap, lyrical, musical theatre, and ballet. She later began training with Fascinating Rhythm School of Performing Arts where she continued training in many styles and at Sierra Nevada Ballet Academy where she first met Rosine Bena, and started getting more serious about ballet, also dancing with Spiral Ballet.
Maya Macias (Trainee) was born in Houston, Texas into a military family. While her family was stationed in Memphis, Tennessee, at age two and a half years old, Maya began studying dance at the Children’s Ballet Theater because she wanted to go to “ballerina school. “ Maya continued her ballet training at Space Coast Ballet and when she was six years old, she began performing with Space Coast Ballet in the Nutcracker.
Olivia Mann (SNB Summer Demi Soloist) began studying at the age of four at Dallas Metropolitan Ballet, and the Dallas Ballet Center and later trained at Booker T. Washington for the Performing and Visual Arts.
Heather Rodriguez (Trainee) started dancing at nine years old in Corpus Christi, Texas. She continued studying Ballet, Contemporary, and Jazz throughout her childhood with Corpus Christi Concert Ballet.