Coming back from summer break is always an interesting time in the dance world. After having spent more time during the previous two weeks on the Internet instead of on my feet, the first day of class was a struggle to say the least. However, the encouragement (read: barely-disguised threatening) of our teacher was enough to get us back into gear rather quickly.

Once we all got back on schedule and stopped talking about how sore we all were (not that that ever really stops), the focus quickly shifted over to the important, controversial stuff- the cast list for Nutcracker. Normally, this isn’t so much of a deal, but this year was very different. Two of our four seniors from last year had left the company, either for professional opportunities or higher education, and one of the girls who was supposed to be a senior this year quit for musical theater. This left a number of top-tier roles up for grabs, leading to much speculation. Nonetheless, everyone expected our director to handle it and we were all excited for the new opportunities.

Then, the day the cast list was supposed to come out, one of our seniors from last year got a call. She had received a job with Milwaukee Ballet, and was expected up there in seven days. Meaning that the cast list had to be reworked.

This is, for all intents and purposes, a truly excellent opportunity for everyone. The girl who got the job gets to be in a professional company, while the rest of us have more opportunities in our show here. However, this means that our director has to replace her in the cast list, which means we’ve had to wait another week for him to release it.

And let me tell you, waiting for a cast list is one of the most anxiety-inducing, stress-filled annoyances in existence at a dance company.

Fortunately, since our director has been working extensively on it, the cast list should be coming out early this week. Hopefully, all this waiting will produce exciting results.