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One Young Dancer's Take on <I>The Nutcracker</I>

Ballet Master James Jordan conducts a rehearsal with dancer Tyler Palmer and other young Kansas City Ballet students.
Laura Spencer/KCUR
Ballet Master James Jordan conducts a rehearsal with dancer Tyler Palmer and other young Kansas City Ballet students.

For more scenes from the rehearsal, check here. This year marks the 35th anniversary of The Kansas City Ballet's production of The Nutcracker. With choreography by the late artistic director emeritus Todd Bolender and a score by Tchaikovsky, the ballet tells the story of a young girl named Clara and her Nutcracker Prince who travel to the Kingdom of the Sweets. By Laura Spencer

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/national/local-national-654897.mp3

Kansas City, MO – Along with the 25 professional Kansas City Ballet dancers, the yearly production also includes about 200 children, ranging in age from 7 to 18 and performing roles from angel to soldier, snowflake to flower. For one young dancer, nine-year-old Tyler Palmer, it's his first year taking classes at the Kansas City Ballet and his first year in The Nutcracker. Let's listen in as he and his mother, Angela, talk about the experience during a recent rehearsal led by Ballet Master James Jordan. For more scenes from the rehearsal, check here.

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