Snow was one of many things that captured the imagination of seven-year-old Aria Kaneshige when she watched her first production of the “The Nutcracker.” In fact, it was seeing a production of “The Nutcracker” that made her want to take dance classes.
“I was blown away,” she told Aloha State Daily.
Her parents signed her up for classes with Ballet Hawaiʻi. Her first role in “The Nutcracker”? Snow angel.
“I feel like that still holds a special spot also because I remember I was really excited just to see the falling snow,” Kaneshige said. “And I wanted to find out what the snow is made out of.”
This year, Ballet Hawaiʻi will perform “The Nutcracker” — with an Island twist that includes nēnē, geckos, sea turtles and Mauna Kea — at Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall on Friday, Dec. 12, Saturday, Dec. 13, and Sunday, Dec. 14. Performances will feature guest artists Megan Fairchild and Chun Wai Chan, principal dancers with New York City Ballet, and live music from the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra under guest conductor Ann Krinitsky.
Kaneshige has held a number of roles in “The Nutcracker” over the years, including one of the most well-known roles, Clara. Today, Kaneshige teaches the same level of class she enrolled in when she joined Ballet Hawaiʻi. For the upcoming performances of “The Nutcracker,” she trained the “critters,” which include turtles, bumblebees, hermit crabs and nēnē. Kaneshige also dances, appearing as iʻiwi and a snowflake, as well as a mom in a party scene.
“But I have to say, I think what takes the top spot and is most special definitely was when I got to be Clara, since it was a childhood dream of mine,” she said. “And it was also really special that year because it was actually the first year ʻThe Nutcracker’ came back after covid because Ballet Hawaiʻi had shut down for two years.”
“Ballet Hawaiʻi's Nutcracker is really fun and unique because we have our Hawaiian twist, and it shows in a bunch of different roles,” Kaneshige said. “The fun part is we still do have the snow scene, since we have snow in Mauna Kea. We have a lot of fun twists on roles, like for example, I think one of the really cute twists is instead of the Sugar Plum Fairy, we have a Sugar Plumeria Fairy.”
The marzipan dance is also adapted to feature iʻiwa, she said. Other scenes feature Hawaiian warriors, butterflies and geckos.
A group picture of Ballet Hawaiʻi's "The Nutcracker" when Aria Kaneshige played Clara. (Kristen Hirota) 
Aria Kaneshige now teaches classes for Ballet Hawaiʻi, where she is also the social media manager. She helped the bumblebees prepare for this year's production of "The Nutcracker." (Kristen Hirota) 
Turtles are part of "The Nutcracker" performed by Ballet Hawaiʻi. (Kristen Hirota) 
Ballet Hawaiʻi features a Sugar Plumeria Fairy, instead of the Sugar Plum Fairy, in its production of the holiday classic, "The Nutcracker." (The Smoking Camera)
As for Kaneshige, she finally knows what the snow is made out of when rains down from the heavens in “The Nutcracker.”
“It's little cut out pieces of paper, if you're curious,” she said, with a laugh.
Katie Helland can be reached at katie@alohastatedaily.com.
