When seven-year-old Katelyn Bellamare of Rochester heard the news that she earned a spot in the Festival Ballet Providence’s performance of “The Nutcracker,” she was overwhelmed.

“I found out after I got off the bus,” Bellamare said. “So I screamed at the top of my lungs and fainted when I got inside.”

Fainted may be an exaggeration, Bellamare admitted, but she said she could not have been happier to jump at the chance to perform with her 17-year-old neighbor, Lauren Sylvia, in the annual holiday show, which opens Dec. 9.

It was Lauren’s influence that Katelyn said inspired her to audition for the Festival Ballet.
Lauren, a senior at the Old Rochester Regional High School, is currently in her eighth year with the company. She will be dancing as a Sugar Plum attendant alongside Katelyn, who will be appearing as an angel.

For Katelyn, who began dancing two years ago, the four weeks of waiting to hear back about her audition were tough, but the result was worth the wait.

She added that the first person she called when she heard the good news was Lauren. Promptly followed by a call to her grandmother, she added.

According to Lauren, she suggested Katelyn audition for the ballet because she knew how much Katelyn loved dance and would be a natural for performance.

Her love of dance, Katelyn said, comes from the array of emotions involved.

“I like how some of it’s rock and roll and some of it’s soft,” Katelyn said.
Though, Katelyn said, it’s the soft that she finds in “The Nutcracker,” which Lauren agreed, makes the show ideal for a Christmas ballet.

“The Nutcracker is always really exciting, especially this time of year,” Lauren said. “All of the work you put into it comes out in the end and it really shows. Everyone in the audience can find something they like in the show.”

After nine years studying dance, Lauren said she hopes to join the Festival Ballet Company full-time after she graduates from high school in the spring while maybe taking some courses at a nearby college.

For now, the girls are deep into final rehearsals for the show, which will run the weekend of Dec. 9 through Dec. 11 at the Providence Performing Arts Center.

Katelyn will be making her debut on Saturday Dec. 10 alongside Lauren, who will be appearing in all the shows.