The Ones Who Came Back: Westside Ballet's Nutcracker Is a Family Affair

For 13-year-old Adelina Stroh, playing Clara in Westside Ballet's The Nutcracker would have been a milestone on its own. She has spent six years training at the Santa Monica school, watching older students take on the role at the center of the holiday ballet.

This year, she has another reason to remember the occasion. Her mother will be performing alongside her.

Christina Brunk Stroh, a Westside alumna who went on to dance professionally with Pennsylvania Ballet, is returning as Frau Silberhaus, Clara's mother. Onstage, the two will play the same relationship they share at home.

It is an unusually literal example of something that has been happening at Westside School of Ballet for decades. Students leave, sometimes for professional companies thousands of miles away, then find their way back. Some return to teach. Others arrive with their own children.

Adelina, a seventh-grader at Lincoln Middle School, is one of two Santa Monica girls cast as Clara this year. The other is Desiree Wells, 14, an eighth-grader at John Adams Middle School. Both will share the part with Valentina Finci, 13, of Pacific Palisades.

Their performances are part of Westside Ballet of Santa Monica's 53rd annual Nutcracker, running November 27 through December 6 at the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage.

The production arrives as Westside School of Ballet celebrates its 60th year, a milestone that has less to do with the age of the building than with the number of lives that have passed through its studios.

Two Santa Monica Claras

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Santa Monica students Adelina Stroh of Lincoln Middle School and Desiree Wells of John Adams Middle School share the role of Clara in Westside Ballet's The Nutcracker

Adelina's mother began at Westside in 1988, when she was eight years old. Over the next decade, Brunk Stroh danced everything from a Blue Soldier to the Dew Drop Fairy, studying with founders Yvonne Mounsey and Rosemary Valaire.

After her professional career, Brunk Stroh returned to Southern California and eventually established Movement Center LA in Santa Monica, where she teaches today.

Now it's Adelina's turn.

"I love dancing, and this Nutcracker will be my favorite yet," Adelina said. "Dancing as Clara and sharing the stage with my mom will be a memory I'll cherish for the rest of my life."

Desiree has her own long history at the school. She has trained at Westside for eight years, starting as a young child and gradually moving into more demanding roles. Last season she joined older dancers in the Russian and Flower dances. This year, in her fifth Nutcracker, she has the role every young dancer knows.

"With each rehearsal and day that goes by, performing as Clara feels less like a dream and more like reality," Desiree said. "It's getting more and more real and exciting every single day."

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Olivia Moccia will perform as the Soldier Doll in Westside Ballet's Nutcracker Suite private matinees on Wednesday, December 2, 2026, for approximately 1,000 elementary students from the Santa Monica-Malibu and Los Angeles Unified school districts. Her other roles this season include Snowflakes, Lead Angel, Lead Spanish, Mirlitons, Dew Drop Fairy and Demi Flowers

Outside the studio, Desiree plays flute in the John Adams Middle School Wind Ensemble and is active in student government. She hopes to dance professionally and has her sights on New York.

The third Clara, Valentina Finci of Pacific Palisades, is appearing in her fifth Westside production. She was part of the Russian and Chinese ensembles last year and will perform Clara both for public audiences and during one of the special school presentations on December 2.

Together, the three represent different stages of the same demanding process: years of classes, rehearsals and smaller roles leading to a chance at one of ballet's most recognizable characters.

The family connection extends to Brynlee Highway, 17, who dances the Sugar Plum Fairy December 3–6 with Maté Szentes, and Drew Cortez, 16, who performs the Dew Drop Fairy. Their mothers, Elizabeth Highway and Mieke Cortez, also trained at Westside; Mieke danced Clara in 1987, a role Drew later performed in 2024.

Why Tiler Peck keeps coming back

The most prominent returning graduate is New York City Ballet principal Tiler Peck, who will dance the Sugar Plum Fairy during Thanksgiving weekend, November 27–29, with fellow principal and husband Roman Mejia as her Cavalier.

Peck studied under Westside co-founder Yvonne Mounsey, who danced with George Balanchine's New York City Ballet and performed in the original 1954 production of his Nutcracker.

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Santa Monica dancers Kyler Ogawa Sziraki and Mavis Meredith perform featured Center Candy roles in Westside Ballet's The Nutcracker

This September, Peck was named New York City Ballet's first-ever Choreographic Associate, becoming the first woman to hold a choreographic title in the company's history. She continues to dance as a principal and will star in Susan Stroman's Little Dancer in London's West End next February.

For someone accustomed to international stages, returning to Westside offers a different kind of performance.

"Dancing with Roman here feels different from dancing with him in New York. The students are watching from the wings, the audience knows so many of the dancers, and you can feel how much the whole community cares about the show. There's a real warmth to it, and so much history behind the tradition. It makes the performance feel special every year."

Her words point to something that makes this production unusual. The youngest students don't merely watch established professionals from the audience. They rehearse the same ballet, share the backstage spaces and see what professional dance looks like from a few feet away.

They also see former students coming home.

Santa Monica's dancers step forward

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Dancers who live or attend school in Santa Monica prepare to perform featured roles in Westside Ballet's The Nutcracker. Bottom row, left to right: Delilah Stoddard (Center Chinese, Center Candy); Adelina Stroh (Clara); Emalia Shiell (Snow Fairy); Desiree Wells (Clara); Ella Williams (Center Chinese). Top row, left to right: Kyler Ogawa Sziraki (Center Chinese, Center Candy); Lex Vancura (Doll, Center Chinese); Isabelle Choy (Lead Spanish, Center Mirliton, Dew Drop Fairy); Maya Kurc (Center Chinese, Center Candy); Olivia Moccia (Lead Angel, Lead Spanish, Dew Drop Fairy); Mavis Meredith (Center Candy).

The Santa Monica students in featured roles include Isabelle Choy, 18, as Dew Drop Fairy, Lead Spanish and Center Mirliton, and Olivia Moccia, 16, a santa monica high school student performing Lead Angel, Lead Spanish and Dew Drop Fairy, as well as Soldier Doll for the school matinees. Ella Williams and Delilah Stoddard dance Center Chinese; Delilah also performs Center Candy. Lex Vancura dances the Doll and Center Chinese, while Linus Badelt plays Fritz.

For Maya Kurc, 15, the school matinees have come full circle. Watching Westside's Nutcracker Suite as an elementary student inspired her to join; now the Archer School sophomore performs Snow Queen for those presentations, alongside Center Chinese and Lead Candy Cane in the season. She also researches Parkinson's disease, work that earned her a place among the 2025 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge's Top 300. Kyler Ogawa Sziraki, 15, a Windward sophomore who also discovered Westside through its Nutcracker, returns for her sixth season with Lead Chinese and Lead Candy Cane roles.

Lex Vancura, a ninth-grader at Archer, is in her second year at Westside. Her training has included an eight-week summer at Ellison Ballet, and she hopes to combine dance in college with studies leading toward a career in audiology. For Kyler, who has trained at Westside since five, ballet is also a place to express herself. "Since I was little, ballet has always let me convey what I feel, whether it's on stage or just in a regular class," she says.

Sarah Madison Photography

Santa Monica dancers come together for Westside Ballet's The Nutcracker, continuing the community's holiday ballet tradition. Level 7: Isabelle Choy, Olivia Moccia. Level 6: Delilah Stoddard, Elise DuFour, Ella Williams, Kyler Ogawa Sziraki, Lex Vancura, Maya Kurc. Level 5+: Evelyn Choy, Mavis Meredith. Level 5: Adelina Stroh, Desiree Wells, Hannah Gruenberg, Ines Chavira, Katherine Rakuljic, Lavinia Allen-Dutton, Lila Bruno, Liliana Castro, Zoee Samanta, Zuzu Wenneker. Level 4+: Aina Joergensen, Hannah Woods, Kaya Fleming-Cordon, Ruby Johnson, Skye Strand, Zoe Nakamura. Level 4: Beatrice Rosenfeld, Greta Bruno, Karson St. Claire. Level 3+: Agnes Hammer, Anoushka Mahajan, Audrey Aitkenhead-Otto, Cassandra Olivas, Charlotte Ford, Colette Flandro, Dakota Nelson, Gabriel Stroll, Giuliana Bello Calvo, Linus Badelt, Mia Filosto, Selah Cohn. Level 3: Dahlia Curiel, Delaney Lennartson, Emalia Shiell, Frances Sharum, Mia Garcia, Sarah Enriquez, Teegan Lennartson. Not pictured: Beatrice Kranz, Emma Marconi, Jules Montesi-Cashion, Maia Skorokhod, Mila Stoudt

santa monica high school freshman Mavis Meredith, 14, is preparing her first soloist role in Lead Candy Cane. "I am so excited to perform my first soloist role this year, and the Candy Cane dance means so much to me," she says. At the other end of the experience is Snow Fairy Emalia Shiell, eight, a Crossroads third-grader making her Nutcracker debut after four years at Westside. "I'm excited but nervous! I like practicing because it's fun and I get to see my friends," she says.

The younger dancers bring their own ambitions to the production. Emalia, who also enjoys musical theatre and gymnastics, already hopes to return as a Polichinelle popping out of Mother Ginger's dress. Eleven-year-old Linus Badelt, an Edison Language Academy student, plays Clara's mischievous brother Fritz. The range of ages gives the youngest performers a close view of the roles they may one day dance themselves.

Another alumnus comes home to lead

Adrian Blake Mitchell has also returned to the school where he began.

Mitchell enrolled at Westside at 13, studying with Mounsey before moving to New York and later Russia, where he became the first Black graduate of the Vaganova Academy and danced with the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St. Petersburg.

He returned to Santa Monica in 2022 and began developing the school's Boys Program, which has grown from four students to more than 40. In June he succeeded longtime Artistic Director Martine Harley.

This will be his first Nutcracker as Artistic Director of the performing company, though he knows the production from years spent inside it.

Westside's educational work extends beyond its regular students. Its Dance to Dreams initiative provides free ballet opportunities to children who might otherwise have little access to classical dance.

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Drew Cortez, 16, performs the Dew Drop Fairy in Westside Ballet's The Nutcracker. Her mother, Mieke Cortez, danced Clara at Westside in 1987; Drew followed her into the same role in 2024

One participant, nine-year-old Santa Monica resident Karson St. Claire, came to the school through the programme, made her Nutcracker debut last year, and returns in 2026 as a Party Child and Crystal Bell.

There will also be approximately 1,000 local schoolchildren attending abbreviated educational performances on December 2. For some, the outing will be their first experience of live ballet and orchestral music.

A familiar holiday, with new faces

Yvonne Mounsey and Rosemary Valaire opened Westside School of Ballet in 1967 and established the nonprofit performing company six years later. Their first Nutcracker followed in 1973.

The basic story hasn't changed. Clara still has her mysterious godfather, a growing Christmas tree, a battle with mice and a journey through the Land of Sweets.

What changes is who gets to dance it.

This year more than 140 young performers, ages eight to 18, will take the stage, accompanied by the Santa Monica College Symphony Orchestra at ten of the eleven public performances.

The annual Nutcracker Tea returns for a second season on November 28 and 29 at 3 p.m., with refreshments, a backstage tour and a chance to meet Peck. Westside will also host a complimentary December 3 performance for invited veterans and community organizations.

Sarah Madison Photography

Delilah Stoddard (left), 15, of Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences, and Ella Williams (right), 14, of Santa Monica High School, perform as Center Chinese soloists in Westside Ballet's The Nutcracker. Both also dance in Flowers; Delilah's additional roles include Snowflakes, Spanish and Center Candy

The school has changed considerably since Mounsey and Valaire opened their doors. Its dancers have moved into ballet companies, Broadway productions, teaching careers and professions far from the stage.

But enough of them keep returning that this year's production offers a glimpse of sixty years of Santa Monica dance history, all in the same theatre.

For Adelina Stroh, the past and present will be standing beside her at the party scene. She'll be dancing Clara. Her mother will be playing Clara's mother.

Westside Ballet of Santa Monica's 53rd Annual Nutcracker runs November 27 through December 6 at the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage, Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center, 1310 11th Street, Santa Monica.

Public performances are November 27 at 7 p.m .; November 28–29 at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m .; December 3–4 at 7 p.m .; and December 5–6 at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Tickets are $66.50. Nutcracker Tea packages are $196.50. Visit westsideballet.com/NutTix or call (800) 595-4849.