This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.

Scholar, Volunteer by Day, Sugar Plum Fairy Come December

After a full day of school, Eilidh Currie spends her afternoons corralling children into choreographed steps, and then stepping into pointe shoes to rehearse the delicate and demanding role of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

The 18 year-old North Branford resident is volunteering for her third year as choreographer of the North Branford Intermediate School (NBIS) Spotlight Player’s fall musical, which this year will be Into the Woods, Jr., while also preparing to perform as Sugar Plum Fairy—for the second consecutive year—in one of New England Ballet’s three Nutcracker performances in December.

Eilidh (pronounced Ay-lee) is also a North Branford High School (NBHS) National Honor Society student and four-year member of community service program Helping Hands. She’s won several subject awards at school including College Board Advanced Placement (AP) Scholar (for three AP Subjects scored three or above out of five). Last year, as a junior, Eilidh won NBHS’s prestigious Yale Book Award.

Most of her NBHS peers also know about Eilidh’s commitment to dance, but she laughs when she remembers her pre-ballerina days.

“When I was younger, I was one of those kids who tried all sorts of sports and did not do well,” Eilidh says. “I tried soccer for a really long time, because my dad coached a rec team; and it was bad—I would cry before every scrimmage! It was too cold for me outdoors, and I wasn’t into softball or basketball or anything.”

When Eilidh asked her mom to sign her up for dance classes, “I think she thought I would last a couple of months, at most!” says Eilidh. “But we live near Donna & Cathy’s [Dance Center], so my mom signed me up. I took my first class in sneakers. I just liked it, and I kept going and going.”

That was 10 years ago. In 2010, Eilidh joined New England Ballet Company. The pre-professional company based in Orange and Bridgeport produces two major productions annually, including The Nutcracker. Eilidh’s first performance in The Nutcracker was certainly not a major role, but she loved it.

“I was in all little tiny parts,” says Eilidh. “I was a rat; I had to wear a giant rat costume! But of course, it was amazing to be a part of this whole big thing.”

It didn’t take long for Eilidh’s innate talent and long hours of practice to pay off. The next year, she was cast as Clara.

“When you’re younger, the part to get is Clara; when you’re older, the part to get is the Sugar Plum Fairy, because it’s the epitome of Nutcracker,” says Eilidh, who first won the Sugar Plum Fairy role in 2014 and returns to the role this year.

“The variation in the Sugar Plum is that classic Sugar Plum Fairy music that everyone knows,” she explains. “The main part the Sugar Plum Fairy does, she dances for six minutes straight. There’s about a 30-second break and then she dances for three minutes, and three more minutes after that...so it’s really physically challenging. It takes a lot of building up stamina. But it’s fun.”

Back when Eilidh was performing as Clara, one audience member was particularly taken by the lithe, beautiful ballerina. It was a kind of kismet moment for NBIS Spotlight Players director Sharon Monnes, who was attending the performance with her sister.

“The whole time during Act One, I kept thinking, ‘Wow—Clara is really stunning and beautiful!’ During the intermission I opened up my program, and I saw it was Eilidh Currie—she was one of my 8th grade students!” says Monnes, who teaches NBIS music and theater arts. “And so when we decided to do our first musical the following year, I knew we were going into uncharted territory with choreography, and I called Eilidh.”

That was three years ago. Eilidh first signed on to choreograph the Wizard of Oz, followed by Annie and now, Into the Woods Jr. The dancer says she hadn’t considered trying her hand at choreography until her former teacher gave her a call, but has since found she really enjoys it.

“I hadn’t even thought about it before this,” says Eilidh. “I didn’t think it would be something I’m good at. But I’m finding it’s pretty easy when you have a dance background and you know what looks good on stage and what kids can handle.”

For this year’s production, which opens Friday, Nov. 20, and also plays Saturday, Nov. 21 (shows begin at 7 p.m. in the North Branford Auditorium), Eilidh turned to YouTube to pick up the fundamentals of teaching a waltz (for Cinderella’s dance with the Prince). She relied on her dance training to choreograph the rest of the show.

From working with Red Riding Hood and the Wolf to the Baker, his wife, the Witch, and Cinderella, “a lot of the choreography is in figuring out how to get the kids to move to look like their characters, and less like stopping and dancing,” she explains. “And there’s a ballroom scene, which was totally new for me. So I was looking stuff up on YouTube, and teaching basic waltz steps.”

Another bit of dance, the “Fairy Ballet,” presented an easier task for Eilidh.

“These fairies need to come on and off the stage during set changes and make things look all magical; so they have this little ballet piece they do. It was fun to teach them.”

The show marks Eilidh’s last assist for Spotlight Players and Monnes says she will be missed.

“We kind of combined forces to produce these musicals, and she’s really been a driving force of laying the foundation of what the Spotlight Players are,” says Monnes. “She’s set the bar so high that I’m sad she’s graduating!”

As for turning her pre-professional ballet dancing into a career, Eilidh says she wants to stay in dance, if possible, but doesn’t plan to pursue it as a pro.

“This time next year, hopefully wherever I end up in college, there’ll be something I can pursue ballet-wise for myself, and some involvement with some sort of theater to see if I can help with choreography. That would be awesome,” she says. “A lot of the schools I’m applying to have programs like that; just recreational, just to keep up with it. I’m planning on majoring in political science, so I have pretty diverse interests!”

NBIS Spotlight Players present Into the Woods, Jr. on Friday, Nov. 20 and Saturday, Nov. 21, at 7 p.m. in the auditorium at North Branford Intermediate School. Tickets, $10 available at the door. New England Ballet presents The Nutcracker on Saturday, Dec. 19 at 1 and 7 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. in the Klein Memorial Auditorium, Bridgeport; tickets are available at www.newenglandballet.org.