IU Senior Mary Quinn Aber dances the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in the IU production of The Nutcracker. The music is by Tchaikovsky and the choreography by IU's Michael Vernon. "I love it and I've been blessed with the role since my sophomore year," says Aber. The dancer got her start in ballet early. "I think I was just eight when I was one of the children who hide under Mother Ginger's skirt," she remembers.
You might think that dancing the role gets easier, but she says, "No. Each year, I practice more and work on it. And I look at the video to see things that I want to change. "
Although there's still the spring semester with more dancing, Aber is already sad about leaving Bloomington. "It's my senior year, unfortunately," she says. "IU has just been the best." The program is demanding. Dancers start classes at eight with one or two academics. Then it's over to the MAC for technique class from eleven-thirty to one. After a half hour for lunch they rehearse until five-forty-five and after dinner there are evening classes.
"We do have long schedules," she agrees. But Aber says, "We get the best of both worlds. I mean we're coming out with a degree. I'll have my outside field in journalism and I have a minor in sociology. So it's definitely worth it."