Needham 3rd-Grader Dancing In Boston Ballet's 'The Nutcracker'

NEEDHAM, MA — Ask an elementary school class what the kids want to be when they grow up and you're likely to get a few that say they want to be ballerinas. Needham third-grader Diya Sagar might already be on her way. At just 9 years old, she is dancing in arguably the biggest show the Boston Ballet Company has to offer, "The Nutcracker."

Sagar, who's taken dance classes since the age of two, joined the Boston Ballet dance school last year, but with a September birthday, her mother Vanya said Diya had to wait a year before she auditioned.

Auditions were competitive. Vanya said there were more than 100 students in Sagar's age group and parents were not allowed at the tryouts. As a third-grader, Sagar was eligible only for a couple of roles. Children in that age group often end up playing mice or roles in the ballet's party scene.

Pressure like this might be too daunting for many people to handle, especially a 9-year-old kid, but not Sagar.

"I wasn't really nervous," Sagar said. "It was a lot of fun."

Her mother agreed, saying her daughter's confidence on stage was was self-taught.

“She loves the stage, unlike me or her father...,” Vanya said. "I’ve seen her grow and change and blossom from a toddler into a confident girl who’s improved so much. She’s determined. I’ve never had to push her in any way."

That determination helped Sagar get a role in the party scene, which Vanya said takes up much of the ballet's first act. Sagar's tryout went so well she ended up making the A cast.

With the number of shows "The Nutcracker" has in December, it's not possible for every show to be performed by the same cast. Sagar's cast was scheduled to perform on opening night back on Nov. 29, the first of her 14 performances.

Sagar said she wasn't nervous. In fact, she said, she didn't even notice the crowd most of the time. If anything, she was having more fun than she did in auditions or in practice.

"It’s a lot more fun on stage than in a bigger room," Sagar said. "The lights help. You’re not nervous because there’s a lot of fog, so it seems like more like water or a mirror in front of you. You don’t really see the audience and just have fun."

Watching these performances, Vanya could not have been a prouder mother, she said.

“We bought expensive tickets right at the front," she said. "She seemed like a real pro to me.”

Sagar's goal is to become a professional. When she gets older, she hopes to train in the Boston Ballet's pre-professional program, a school where dancers study and live at the school.

In the meantime Sagar, like a lot of kids, remains busy with other activities. She competes in rhythmic gymnastics and plays the piano. Sagar said she also loves to read and travel with her family. Although these activities give Sagar the opportunity to do other things, she likes when the skills from everything she does come together and help her with another activity.

“It makes me happy and I like learning new things. Sometimes it makes me better at gymnastics and gymnastics makes me better at ballet," Sagar said.

Photos courtesy of Boston Dance Photography and Peter Noel Photography