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Exhibitionists·HOW TO

Dust off your dancing shoes and turn up the Tchaikovsky — we're learning how to pirouette

Alexandra MacDonald, a first soloist at the National Ballet of Canada, breaks down ballet's most famous twirl.

Breaking down ballet's most famous twirl

Mercedes Grundy · CBC Arts ·

Let a ballerina from The Nutcracker teach you how to pirouette

8 years ago
Duration 1:49
Pointe shoes and tutu are optional... Snow Queen crown is mandatory.

Ready to bring your childhood Nutcracker dreams to life? Ballet dancer Alexandra MacDonald took some time out of her grueling rehearsal schedule to let us into the studio and get a glimpse of her spinning a little bit of holiday magic.

Calgary-born MacDonald is a first soloist at the National Ballet of Canada who is dancing the role of Snow Queen in this year's The Nutcracker. Over a million people have attended the ballet since its premiere in 1995, and the tradition continues this year with 233 performers dancing, singing and playing their hearts out to Tchaikovsky's festive score. And thanks to MacDonald, now you can try to join them at home.

The Nutcracker. Presented by The National Ballet of Canada. December 10 - 31 at  Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen W, Toronto.

Watch Exhibitionists Sundays at 4:30pm (5 NT) on CBC.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mercedes Grundy

Mercedes Grundy is a producer for CBC's Unscripted division. She has played an integral role in the creation of series like Exhibitionists, The Filmmakers and Canada's a Drag as well as special projects like Superqueeroes and The 2010s: The Decade Canadian Artists Stopped Saying Sorry. Collectively, these projects have won Grundy 5 Canadian Screen Awards. She has an educational background in photography, and produces film and theatre when not busy here at the CBC.

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