As it is for most ballet companies, “The Nutcracker” is a constant for Long Beach Ballet. The company will perform Tchaikovsky’s classic at Long Beach Terrace Theater for the 36th year, starting Saturday, Dec. 15, and continuing through Dec. 23.

You might think that kind of familiarity could breed, if not contempt, a certain boredom or apathy. Indeed, a musician who played a lot of “Nutcrackers” every holiday season once confided to me that he would sometimes nod off while playing, only to wake up having not missed a note.

But musicians play the same score every performance. Dancers are afforded the opportunity to play an array of roles and “The Nutcracker” is practically singular in the sheer amount of roles it offers, especially for young dancers. It’s that fact that not only enchants the kids watching it but makes it, hands down, the most common gateway for young people to enter into ballet.

“Kids relate to so much of what is going on, on stage,” said Shani Englert, who has taught at Long Beach Ballet’s Academy for 23 years. “They relate to the party scene. All little girls seem to associate with Clara and live vicariously through her; she dreams about finding a prince and going to a far-off land. And her brother is really mean to her. A lot of kids can imagine themselves on that stage.”

Englert, who started dancing with Long Beach Ballet when she was 5 and performed as Clara a few years later, says enrollment in the company’s academy usually goes up after “Nutcracker.” We spoke to a few of the company’s most senior dancers, those dancing some of the production’s major roles, and asked about their first “Nutcracker,” how it brought them in and changed their lives.

Long Beach’s Liliana Rose McCarty, everyone calls her LR, attends St. Anthony and will be dancing the roles of Columbine Doll and a Mirliton dancer. (Click on arrow and slide to left or right)

LILIANA ROSE “LR” McCARTY

The first time I saw “The Nutcracker” I was performing in it. I had never seen it before. I was 5 and I was a little baby Chinese dancer. I vividly remember everything because my Mom was involved in the props, so I was around the production a lot more than the other kids and I got to know the backstage really well. I knew all the dressing rooms like the back of my hand. And it’s just continued like that for me. The [Terrace] theater has become like a second home to me during the holidays.

This is my 11th year doing “The Nutcracker” and it’s my favorite time of year; it never gets old. There are always new things you can work on, always something to get right, always a line that wasn’t straight, a foot that wasn’t pointed, always something to develop, ballet is one thing you will never perfect.

And, because it’s a live show, there’s always little mishaps, I mean, we have a live horse in the production. That’s a live animal on stage so, you know, you never know. By the way, the horse’s name is Rebel, he’s the director’s daughter’s horse and we all love him.

You know, when you’re performing, you can only see the first few rows, but you can feel the presence of the audience, so much so that you know when it’s going to be a good audience, you can feel it. We always comment on it after the first act, we’ll say, “It’s a good show, it’s a good audience.” It’s not just the applause, there’s just this energy that you feel; a connection. It makes you dance better, too.

Saxon Wood was raised in Long Beach and now lives in Huntington Beach. He’ll perform as Harlequin and in the Waltz of the Flowers. (Slide on arrow and slide up or down)

SAXON WOOD

I have one sister, she started dancing at Long Beach Ballet and I was always asked, “When are you going to dance ‘The Nutcracker’? I was friends with boys that were dancing in it and I felt a little left out. So, they finally got me in class and the first thing they did was hand me tights and I said, “OK, I’m not wearing these.” So, they gave me sweatpants.

It ended up I had been blessed with a facility that is pretty desirable for a dancer. In the first few minutes of my first class, Shani stopped the class, ran out and yelled, “He has feet! He has feet!” What she meant is I had good feet for ballet. Kind of wonky feet with high arches and a bendiness.

The first “Nutcracker” I was in I was a soldier but, I think for every young boy, Fritz is the role you want to play. That’s sort of the pinnacle of a young male dancer’s career. It’s the first featured role and you get to be mischievous. You’re also featured, you know, you get to have your little moment in the spotlight.

As far as performing “Nutcracker” a lot, I was told when I was a very young dancer that if you wake up and find ballet is getting easier, then you’re probably not working as hard as you can to develop your technique and your artistry. There’s always something else you can do. That’s what keeps the audience coming back. They can see it and feel it. You can feel that reaction, imagine what they’re feeling, because we were once in that audience, and we felt it.

Long Beach’s Sofia Striegl is a senior at the Orange County School of the Arts. She’ll be dancing in the roles of Snow Queen and Columbine Doll. (Click on arrow and slide left or right)

SOFIA STRIEGL

My first “Nutcracker” was when I was 5. I was a little Chinese dancer. I had never seen it before, but I started dancing here and it was my first show. I do remember being backstage and being very nervous but once I was on stage all the nerves went away. That’s kind of how ballet is: you put in so much hard work and you’re kind of nervous if it’s going to be any good and then when you get on stage, you really just let go and feel your self dancing.

It’s wonderful, I love it. I think because of [“The Nutcracker”] this is my favorite time of year. It’s like Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without it. For me, it’s not hard to keep it fresh since every year we do new roles, and even if you’ve done a role before, you can always find something new to do with it. It never loses its magic for me. At the end, it’s always goosebumps.

Brent Shavelle lives in Cerritos and is a senior in high school. He’ll be dancing the role as the Nutcracker Doll and the lead Spanish Dancer. (Click on arrow and slide left or right)

BRENT SHAVELLE

I saw this production when I was 6 or 7. I saw Fritz and I decided I wanted to be Fritz in “The Nutcracker.” My Mom said, “Well, OK, but that that means you have to do ballet.” I wasn’t quite sure what that meant but that was my goal. I started ballet and I’ve been at it ever since.

I think what drew me to Fritz was that he was a little boy my own age who was on stage just having fun. That’s all I wanted to do then. Now, of course, it’s a whole lot more, the demands, the artistry, the discipline.

I joined Long Beach Ballet a couple months later, it was all new to me, everything was new, all interesting and fun. At the time I was always doing competitive diving. It got to the point that those two things were competing for my time and I had to choose. I’d like to say I chose ballet because I loved it but, if I’m honest, I think I just got tired of slamming into the water. At the time, ballet seemed the easier of the two. Of course, that quickly changed. Ballet became much harder.

The first time I performed, I was one of Mother Ginger’s children. By my fourth year, I was about 11, I got to dance Fritz. It’s funny, Fritz isn’t really a peak role for a lot of dancers, but, you know, it meant so much to me. And I enjoyed it so much.

The Long Beach Terrace Theater is located at 300 E. Ocean Blvd. For ticket information link here.