Coram girl featured in Nutcracker Ballet

Anna Schmidt of Coram has been dancing most of her young life.

The Columbia Falls High School senior got her start in ballet at age 3.

“The daycare took us to dance classes,” she said.

Schmidt used to do gymnastics and figure skating as well. For a time, she said, ballet was more of an additional training on the side to help her figure skating. She also performed modern dance for a while.

Now, though, it’s ballet all the way and this week Schmidt performed in the Northwest Ballet’s annual production of “The Nutcracker.”

This is the sixth time Schmidt has danced the production. She started dancing with the Northwest Ballet as a seventh grader.

“You work you way up,” Schmidt said of the roles she danced this year.

Schmidt danced two parts — she portrayed Mrs. Stahlbaum, the mother of main character Clara, as well as an Arabian princess.

Dancing two parts get s a little difficult sometimes, she said.

“The instructor does a good job of making it so that I have time to change,” she said.

This performance was her favorite so far, because she had a solo, she said.

“I get to be alone on stage, and I don’t have to rely on other people,” she said.

Ballet takes its toll on the body though.

“I’ve lost toenails. It’s all part of it,” Schmidt said. “You learn how to push through the pain.”

Sometimes it’s considerable pain.

“I’ve had to perform on stage without nails, and you just have to keep smiling even though you’re in pain,” she said.

Schmidt said that after high school, she doesn’t think she will continue to pursue ballet professionally. She has her sights set instead on veterinary medicine.

But for now, she continues to love dance.

“My favorite thing is the feeling of being on stage. You just feel so free, and everyone is there to watch you, it’s a magical feeling,” she said.