Raising the Bar: Ballet star returns to UNCSA to coach young students and perform in The Nutcracker

When the UNC School of the Arts' annual production of The Nutcracker gets under way next weekend at the Stevens Center, one of the show's most popular traditions should look as strong as ever.

That's because Gillian Murphy will appear in the "Pink Pas," the pas de deux, or duet, for the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier, becoming the latest star alumna of UNCSA to do so to the live accompaniment of the Winston-Salem Symphony. She will dance the role twice, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and at 2 p.m. next Sunday, each time with Blaine Hoven.

Murphy, like Hoven, is one of several former arts-school students who dance with the famed American Ballet Theatre of New York. Murphy seemed particularly happy to be back at her alma mater, having joined ABT in 1996 and become one of its principal dancers six years later. Her boyfriend is Ethan Stiefel, also an ABT standout, who became UNCSA's dance dean this fall.

"The school just gave me so much," Murphy said. "I definitely wouldn't be where I am today if I hadn't come to UNCSA.… It's great to give back, to come and show what I've learned as I've grown as an artist at American Ballet Theatre."

Murphy has also made the Sugar Plum Fairy one of her specialties. She said she has danced the role "hundreds" of times, often as a guest artist for productions at schools or at companies other than ABT. She seems not to have tired of Sugar Plum in the least.

"Between January and the beginning of December, I'm doing all sorts of (other) things," she said. "It's not like a Broadway show, where it's night after night and you have to find the enthusiasm. By the time it comes around, I'm ready."

And besides: "To do Sugar Plum Fairy is an honor," Murphy said. "She's the hostess of the Candy Land. I do have a sweet tooth in real life.… It's my one addiction, other than dance.… I just think it's really magical to be in a candy land. It's a little over the top, but it's fun."

The practice of engaging alumni in leading Nutcracker roles goes back at least 20 years, said Susan McCullough, a dance instructor at UNCSA who served as its dance dean for 19 years until 2007. Murphy has been a guest Sugar Plum Fairy several times, as have Lilyan Vigo of Carolina Ballet in Raleigh and Deanna Seay of Miami City Ballet.

"It's always a learning experience for them (students)," McCullough said. "That's the reason we try to bring in guests every year.… Because of the location of the school, the students don't always have an opportunity to see professionals dance. It's important that they make that connection."

Sugar Plum sisters

Murphy has been advising the newest members of what might be called UNCSA's Sisterhood of the Sugar Plums. Among the most direct beneficiaries of Murphy's mentoring have been Amy Saunder and Claire L. Kretzschmar, two of three students dancing Sugar Plum Fairy during the rest of Nutcracker's run through Dec. 14. The other Sugar Plum in the current Nutcracker is Maya Joslow, whose Cavalier will be Shane Urton.

During a recent rehearsal of the "Pink Pas" in a UNCSA studio, Murphy sat by McCullough and Robert Lindgren, who along with his wife, Sonja Tyven, choreographs the annual Nutcracker in the Stevens Center. Murphy looked on attentively and applauded occasionally as Saunder danced with Caleb Roberts and Kretzschmar danced with Kristopher Nobles.

When Saunder and Kretzschmar were done, Murphy took them aside and suggested ways that they might move more gracefully or make repetitive movements more interesting. Kretzschmar said that Murphy passed on several insights, including "imagery to help create a vivid picture of who you are as a character in the ballet." The imagery might include walking on a cloud or saying hello to sea creatures.

"Because they're students, it can be a little bit academic," Murphy said. "This is a chance for them to expand beyond the classroom technique and to have more of a performance quality to it.

"At this point in the rehearsal process, they're doing so beautifully. I think, as it gets closer and closer (to performance), they'll bring more and more of their individual, unique artistry to it."

Saunder, a high-school senior from Maryland, began attending UNCSA last year. She said she has viewed Murphy as a role model ever since she, Saunder, decided to study dance seriously at the age of 9. She described as "amazing" the opportunity of sharing the Sugar Plum role with Murphy.

"Gillian Murphy has always been one of my favorite dancers," Saunder said. "She's so beautiful. Just to be able to be in a studio with her and watch her and, like, take things from her dancing -- there's so much. She's such a beautiful technician. But she's also so emotional on stage."

Saunder said she hopes to emulate Murphy's "mixture of emotion and technique."

"One doesn't overpower the other," she said. "(They're) always equal."

■ The UNC School of the Arts and the Winston-Salem Symphony, conducted by Robert Moody, will present Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker through Dec. 14 in the Stevens Center, 405 W. Fourth St. Night shows will be at 7:30 Saturday and next Sunday and Dec. 11-14. Matinees will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, next Sunday, and Dec. 13 and 14. Premium seating is $65. Other tickets are $30-$46 (adults) and $20-$30 (children 13 and under). "Family 4-Pack" packages are available for Thursday- and Sunday-night performances only, for either $130 or $110. See www.uncsa.edu or call 336-721-1945. Murphy and Hoven will dance at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and at 2 p.m. next Sunday.

■ Ken Keuffel can be reached at 336-727-7337 or at kkeuffel@wsjournal.com.