Haddonfield Memorial High School student performs in “The Nutcracker” on Dec. 19
For South Jersey this December, the vision of sugarplums, toys coming to life and dancing mice will become a reality.
At Voorhees Middle School, children from ages 5 to 17 will be performing in South Jersey Ballet Theatre’s production of “The Nutcracker.” One of those dancers is senior Katie Koontz of Haddonfield Memorial High School.
Koontz has been dancing in “The Nutcracker” since first grade and has moved up the ranks to receive lead rolls such as Kissy Doll and Spanish lead, which she will be performing as this year. This year will also be Koontz’ final year with SJBT’s “The Nutcracker.”
“I have loved being in ‘The Nutcracker’ these past 12 years. I learned so much about hard work and dedication, and I made incredible friendships that will last my whole life,” Koontz said.
Koontz started taking dance classes with her friends at the age of 3, and since then, it has stuck. When she learned her cousin Melanie Cortellessa danced with the South Jersey Ballet and did “The Nutcracker,” she thought it sounded like so much fun and begged her mom to let her do it. Then, at the age of 6, Koontz was finally in her first production as a Sugar Plum Fairy Attendant.
Since then, Katie has been in the SJBT’s production of “The Nutcracker” every year, playing characters such as Clowns, Angels, Snow, Flowers and Marizpan, just to name a few. This year, Koontz is playing the Kissy Doll and Spanish lead as well as Snow, Marizpan and Flower corps.
“I am really excited to be Spanish this year because it is a part I have always wanted to have. Kissy Doll will always be one of my favorite parts, like Spanish, because when I was younger I always dreamed of having that role,” Koontz said.
To prepare for “The Nutcracker” production, Koontz has to put a lot of hours into her dancing and rehearsals. She takes classes and rehearses every Saturday from 12:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. from September to December, in addition to Sundays in December. The week before the show, the company has dance and tech rehearsals on Wednesday and Thursday with the performances being on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 19 through 21. It takes a lot of practice and dedication to get the moves down because ballet is so precise.
“Ballet is extremely frustrating because it is so precise. It’s hard to see what the director wants the step to look like and actually physically do that. Sometimes you know what you are supposed to do, but making your body do it is a whole other thing,” Koontz said. “Dance, especially pointe, is really hard on the body. My toenails bruise all of the time, and I have had at least 10 nails fall off.”
However, ballet offers a lot of good things as well. Koontz has made a lot of friends through ballet. Because they go through the same experiences and have the same unique problems that many who don’t dance wouldn’t understand, it allowed them to be very good friends. She feels very lucky that she gets to dance with her best friends.
Yet, her favorite part of doing “The Nutcracker” is actually getting to perform.
“I love being on stage, under the lights and in front of the audience. It’s just so much fun. That’s why I love doing Kissy Doll, because it’s a solo and everyone is watching me, which is really rewarding after all of the work that went in to it,” Koontz said.
Koontz doesn’t only do ballet. She also plays golf and does spring track at HMHS. She also is vice president of the National Honor Society, is a member of the National Art Honor Society, is co-founder and co-president of Paws for a Purpose, is editor of the Bulldawg Bulletin and is a member of Distracted Driving Awareness.
Koontz even organizes and started her own walk called Katie’s Walk to Save when she was 9. Wanting to help others, she organized a walk on the Ocean City boardwalk for a different charity each summer. Over the past eight years, the walk has raised more than $12,000. This past year, the walk raised more than $2,700 for Alex’s Lemonade Stand. The next walk will most likely be next August.
As of now, Koontz wishes to pursue journalism. She writes for the school newspaper and is taking part in the KYW/CBS news studies program. However, that doesn’t mean she is done with ballet. Koontz still has “The Nutcracker” coming up as well as a possible show at the Moorestown Mall one Sunday in December. SJBT is also performing a spring show called “Coppelia” in May that Koontz plans to audition for.
Be sure to see her and other young South Jersey residents in SJBT’s performance of “The Nutcracker.” This year, the shows are Friday, Dec. 19 at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 20 at 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.; and Sunday, Dec. 21 at 2:30 p.m. at the Voorhees Middle School located at 1000 Holly Oak Drive in Voorhees. For ticket information, please visit www.southjerseyballet.com or call SJBT’s box office at (856) 309–8282.
