Notara Dance Theatre students put on a production of The Nutcracker on Thanksgiving weekend at East Stroudsburg High School. Ai??Stroudsburg High School was represented with seniorAi??Marissa Zito, who played lead role of Clara, and junior Johna Fiedler, who played various roles, including the Mouse Queen.

“Rehearsals were long…one Saturday, I was there from 10:30 to 7:00,” said Fiedler, “The hours are worth it. It’s such a fun show.” Lead performers like Fielder spent an approximate 400 hours of practice over the eight weeks leading up to the ballet.

The Notara Dance Theatre produced The Nutcracker for the 32nd consecutive year, usually performing at East Stroudsburg High School. Ai??The owner Ms. Sally Notara is the choreographer, director, and casting director.

“You could tell that the dancers put a lot of effort into the production and they really enjoyed what they were doing,” said senior Alexa Wagner, who attended the performance.

Notara is an American Ballet certified teacher and was a professional ballerina for several years until she retired. She eventually created The Notara School of Dance and Acting, and from that stemmed The Notara Dance Theatre. The school is a non-profit private enterprise and makes revenue from ticket sales. Past performances the Theatre produced were Psyche and the Red Shoes.
“Ballet has taught me discipline and poise, and I’m so lucky to be studying with Ms. Notara,” said senior Marissa Zito. This is Zito’s ninth year at Notara.

The students also recently performed at the Shawnee Festival and hope to do more ballets in the future. Ai??However, the Notara School or Theatre doesn’t compete in any ballet/dancing competitions.

“The competition is with yourself,” said Notara.