Katherine Barkman in Sugar Plum Fairy costume during the socially distanced “Nutcracker Tea Party at Home” video shoot for The Washington Ballet, part of the dance company's “Virtual Nutcracker” programing this year (Photo courtesy of The Washington Ballet)

What are dancers Sona Kharatian and Katherine Barkman of The Washington Ballet doing without The Nutcracker?

By Robert Bettmann On Dec 22, 2020 Last updated Jan 21, 2021

It’s been said that Alvin Ailey’s Revelations is the most-watched dance piece on the planet. The 36-minute, one-act choreography has been a centerpiece of that extraordinary company’s repertory for decades. Similarly, The Nutcracker, with music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, is surely the evening-length dance seen by more Americans than any other. A U.S. holiday tradition, the story melds Tchaikovsky’s gorgeous score with a simple storyline organized around a child, a toy and a dream. One can parallel the storyline to that of Peter Pan or The Wizard of Oz.

Usually produced in three acts, numerous Nutcracker choreographies follow a similar storyline and use the Tchaikovsky score, including the well-known George Balanchine version (which premiered in 1954) and Septime Webre’s version choreographed for The Washington Ballet (which premiered in 2004).

Sona Kharatian and Tamas Krizsa performing “Snow” in The Washington Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” (Photo by XMB Photography)

Beyond the catchiness of the story, the ballet has massive importance to ballet companies. During the 2018-19 season, The Washington Ballet professional company’s last full slate before the pandemic derailed live performances, The Nutcracker accounted for 41 of the 69 public performances. This year, while The Washington Ballet has made it possible for audiences to enjoy the Nutcracker experience virtually, it’s presenting zero live Nutcracker performances.

For many dancers, the experience of being in the theater for a month of back-to-back Nutcracker performances is an unparalleled opportunity for growth. Most Nutcracker productions include child performers, and nearly all professional dancers performed the Nutcracker as children. This December is the first in recent memory that many dancers of The Washington Ballet won’t be performing The Nutcracker.

Recently, The DC Line spoke with dancers Sona Kharatian, Corey Landolt, Katherine Barkman and Alexa Torres about their experiences doing and not doing The Nutcracker. The interviews with Kharatian and Barkman are featured here; in the next installment, hear from Landolt and Torres.

Kharatian is one of the stars of The Washington Ballet, and among its longest tenured members. She comes from a ballet family. Her father, Roudolf Kharatian, is a choreographer and ballet master who until recently was artistic director of the Armenian National Ballet.

Barkman is one of the youngest stars of The Washington Ballet, having emerged from the corps into leading roles over three seasons with the company.

Sona Kharatian: “The Christmas spirit comes with The Nutcracker”

Thank you for your time speaking with me today, Sona. Since we’re talking about The Nutcracker, what was your first Nutcracker role?

Sona Kharatian: My first Nutcracker role? … This goes back to Armenia, where I grew up. I did soldiers. I did Clara. But first soldiers. And then Clara.

How old were you?

SK: I started doing ballet more seriously in the Vaganova Method School when I was 9. So I guess the soldiers was, I must have been, like, 10.

You’re one of the Ballet’s star performers and have been with the company for a while. How many consecutive years have you been doing Nutcracker? And how many of those with The Washington Ballet?

SK: I’ve been here 20 seasons. This would be my 21st season. So 20 years in a row with The Washington Ballet doing The Nutcracker. And before that, roughly another 10. So close to 30 years I’ve been doing The Nutcracker every year.

What’s something about the Nutcracker experience as a dancer that most people don’t know?

SK: I guess just how, as a dancer, it’s doing show after show, and it can be … grueling on the body. Most people don’t understand that. They come to see one show, but we do more than 30 of them. And it’s hard to do that.

What is your favorite Nutcracker role, and have you danced it?

SK: With The Washington Ballet and Septime’s Nutcracker – and that’s the one I’ve done the longest — I would say I guess my signature role is the Anacostian, which in other versions of Nutcracker is the Arabian dance. I love doing all my roles. I love being Clara. And I love being Snow Queen. I enjoy dancing all my roles, but particularly the Anacostian and Snow Queen.

What would you usually be doing today if The Nutcracker was happening?

SK: Early in December, on a Friday, we would definitely be performing at the Warner Theatre. Probably just one show on a Friday. If it was another day, we might have a matinee school show. But it’d probably just be one show this day, in the evening. We would have class in the studio, and sometimes we would have rehearsal before … . So we would go into the studio for a couple hours, have a break and then make our way to the theater. And, you know, people get in at their different times, but we all have to be there a half hour before the show, even if we have a show off. When you have a show off, it’s common that you’ll be assigned as a cover [in case someone is injured or ill at the last minute]. If you are a cover, you have to be there for the curtain up when it’s your role. And you know if you do something in the second act, you have to stay until curtain up of the second act and then you can leave. …

It’s pretty crazy … that we dancers find ourselves in this weird place [given] that, you know, year after year, we’ve just been doing the same thing, which is such an intense thing too, right? Doing The Nutcracker is so intense and then to not have it after, you know, after all these years.

Without “Nutcracker” performances throughout the holiday season this year, dancer Sona Kharatian had the rare chance for a December getaway in the Shenandoah. (Photo courtesy of Sona Kharatian)

What will you do today?

SK: Well, at 11 o’clock you’re talking to me for an interview. But since we don’t have Nutcracker I can actually take my weekend off! So my boyfriend and I have planned to go to the Shenandoah Valley for a getaway in a cabin. So I’m gonna pack in the next few hours, and then we’ll drive to the valley in Virginia. That’s, I guess, the positive of this year with the pandemic. Many dancers can actually spend their holidays with their families, and see their families, and we never could.

Yeah, you have all this time, this whole sort of free month now. How will you spend your December, with no Nutcracker?

SK: It’s been really difficult for many of us financially, for dancers, now unemployed and not having The Nutcracker. I have some teaching set up and some private classes and coaching through Zoom. And of course I’ll be trying to stay in shape myself by just, you know, doing some class, doing some workouts at home. But it’s hard … .

What’s something you’ll particularly miss about doing The Nutcracker?

SK: For me personally – I have done, probably over 1,000 [performances of The Nutcracker]. So for me, I’ll miss it, because it’s, you know, the Christmas spirit comes with The Nutcracker, and we get into the Christmas spirit. And being downtown, and being in the theater. So I’ll miss that. But because I’ve had so many performances of it, I am actually … OK. Like, I’ll live without Nutcracker for a year. I think it’s harder for younger dancers, missing a year. Because it’s a special time for dancers to get to the stage day after day, and get that experience of performing. And that’s usually when newer dancers, younger dancers, get opportunities to try more advanced roles … and dance a lot. So for them it’s very hard, you know?

Katherine Barkman: “I’ve always loved this time of year”

Thank you for speaking with me today, Katherine, about your Nutcracker experience. What was your first Nutcracker role?

Katherine Barkman: I know this sounds odd, but my first role in The Nutcracker — I had a pretty unconventional start. I didn’t start really serious ballet until I was about 14. So my first time doing The Nutcracker? I played the role of Clara. And that was the only time I ever played Clara. I had one show.

I wonder how many professional dancers were Clara when they were younger?

KB: Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, it was definitely one of those roles I dreamed about. I watched the George Balanchine VHS tape … until it basically broke. You know, the one with Macaulay Culkin? I don’t know if you’ve ever seen that, but I just was into The Nutcracker for so long. So when I had that one show as Clara, it was like, Oh, my God, this is very exciting.

How many consecutive years have you been doing Nutcracker? And how many of those with The Washington Ballet?

KB: I’ve been doing The Nutcracker in one way or another since I was probably 16, every holiday season. I’ve done two seasons with The Washington Ballet, but since I was 16 I had been doing [guest appearances] as the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Snow Queen. Seven years total.

What’s something about The Nutcracker experience as a dancer that most people don’t know?

KB: I think probably the biggest thing is that usually when it’s your first time watching the show in a season, it’s probably the artist’s maybe 10th or 12th show of the season. At The Washington Ballet we do about 40 shows. We hope to always make it feel like it’s the first time that we’re dancing it. But in reality we might have done, like, three shows that day if you’re coming at 7 p.m. So I think that’s something that … the average audience member taking the kids might not always be totally aware of, or even think about. … We are making it super magical for every single audience member who comes to any show, no matter what.

What is your favorite role?

KB: With The Washington Ballet I go between a few different roles — between Sugar Plum and Snow Queen and the Dew Drop. And I think each holds their charm. … Each has a different feel and a different vibe and a completely different character to it, so I enjoy each of them. But I think — surprisingly, maybe — my favorite is the Dew Drop. There’s just something so beautiful about that incredible corps of flowers. And it’s just such enchanting music and really ends with, like, this whirlwind. It’s very challenging, but very lighthearted and just beautiful.

View from the wings during a performance of The Washington Ballet’s “The Nutcracker,” featuring Katherine Barkman as the Snow Queen (Photo by Brittany Stone)

What would you be doing today if Nutcracker was happening?

KB: Well, I would probably start with taking a bus to get to the theater. … So getting there, and warming up, and then putting makeup on and having rehearsal and going on and doing a show in whatever role that I was doing. Or sometimes two shows in a day, and two different roles. So it would be a day filled with concentration, first in preparation, then performing. And, you know, [there’s] a lot of thought that goes into every single show and every single role because it doesn’t ever require less than that, less than … your most passionate performance. … My mind would have been completely focused on whoever my audience was and giving that family or that child or that grandparent in the audience my best performance. This year it’s looking very different. It’s the first time since I was 16 that I’ve actually just been with my own family for the holidays.

What did you do today?

KB: Today? I still dedicated quite a bit of time to ballet, and training — but in my living room. Because that’s also important at the moment. To continue going and continue moving forward. But it was also spent in the loving home of my family, which is also a gift in and of itself. But of course, being on stage and being able to perform for people and for other families is always my favorite thing to do.

So, not doing performances in December, how will you spend December?

KB: Well, there’s quite a few things going on that have been created pre-December, which I’m looking forward to seeing even if I won’t be doing them live. Personally, I will be spending December with my family, in my home state of Pennsylvania, which I’m very much looking forward to. But The Washington Ballet has a lot of really amazing things happening, in spite of the fact that we don’t have a theater this year. But hopefully we’ll still reach our audience and reach our community in a safe way. The Washington Ballet has a special Nutcracker show that will be streaming exclusively to Marquee throughout the entire month of December. So that’s something I’m looking forward to experiencing, in a safe and still meaningful way.

What’s something you’ll particularly miss about not doing The Nutcracker, in the traditional way, this year?

KB: Something I’ll miss? I’ve always loved this time of year because it was a whole month dedicated to being exactly where I loved being and doing exactly what I love doing every single day, sometimes multiple times a day. You know, performing 30 shows in one season in one month was such a gift. There’s nothing I love more than preparing to go on stage — and then going on stage and connecting with a live audience in that magical and transcendent way.

And I will also miss that last push. At the end of the run I’m very tired, but I just couldn’t think of doing anything else. I couldn’t think of anything else. Nothing I’d love to do more than just be dancing for a beautiful full house at the Warner. I’ll definitely miss, you know, putting on my tutu and my pointe shoes, and the feeling just before the first notes of Tchaikovsky come through the stage curtain. …

I’m really proud and honored and excited to still give the community some Nutcracker spirit this season, and in a creative way. We just have to be present to what’s going on and not miss things. … The ballet really has come together in a way that is truly remarkable and inspiring to continue giving our audience some kind of magic and joy this holiday season despite, you know, all the difficulty.