Amanda Walker Gray has grown from a mouse to a fairy.
And not in a Disney sort of way.
“I’ve done most of the parts,” said Gray, who is performing as the Sugar Plum Fairy with the Chattanooga Ballet this weekend. This will be Gray’s fourth year dancing the role with the company. She first danced in smaller roles, beginning as a young teenager in Tallahassee, Fla.
“I’ve worked my way up from a mouse and a soldier,” she said.
The collaboration between the Chattanooga Ballet and the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera to bring “The Nutcracker” to life each Christmas season is a 23-year-old tradition, according to ballet director Bob Willie.
Gray said she has danced nearly every female role in “The Nutcracker.” The ballet, composed by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1892, is considered by many to be one of the keystones of the holiday season, particularly for children.
It is the story of Clara, a young girl whose godfather gifts her with a wooden nutcracker soldier on Christmas Eve, only to have the adored present broken by her boisterous brother.
In the middle of the night, she awakens to check on her wounded toy, only to find herself in the midst of a battle of toy soldiers and mice the size of humans. The Nutcracker turns into a handsome prince and whisks Clara away to the Land of Sweets. There, confections from around the world are celebrated – chocolate from Spain, coffee from Arabia and candy canes from Russia, among others.
“I saw it in Atlanta when I was really young,” Gray said of her early “Nutcracker” memories. “I remember loving the music and probably the scene, like every other little girl, and wanting to be the Sugar Plum Fairy someday.”
For the past four years, she has achieved this childhood dream with the Chattanooga Ballet. The pas de deux between the Sugar Plum Fairy and her cavalier is “definitely a test of skill and stamina,” Gray said.
The challenge though, is certainly not a discouragement.
“I feel very lucky to dance to such beautiful music. The grand pas de deux music is some of the most beautiful music there is, so I feel very honored that I get to bring that to life for the audience.”
Contact Holly Leber at hleber@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6391. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/hollyleber.