No, students do not have to be attending Rising Star Tumbling and Dance Studio. All dancers must be enrolled in a dance class at any Wyoming studio.

The first rehearsal will be held on Saturday, October 3, 2026.

This season, we are consolidating our rehearsal weekends to create a more streamlined rehearsal process. By concentrating rehearsals into fewer weekends, we will provide better continuity for dancers, reduce scheduling demands on families, and allow for more weekends together throughout the fall.

Our previous schedule sometimes resulted in dancers rehearsing only every other week. The new schedule will allow cast members to work more consistently with their choreographers and fellow performers as we prepare for the production.

Due to our reduced number of rehearsal weeks, the number of allowed absences per role has been reduced from three missed rehearsals to two.

General Rehearsal Schedule for Nutcracker 2026

Fridays
Sugar Plum Fairy
Snow Queen

Saturdays
Party Scene
Battle Scene
Snow Scene
Angels
Mother Ginger
Flowers

Sunday Afternoons – Act II Divertissements
Spanish
Chinese
Arabian
Candy Canes
Mirlitons

Audition Fee: $25

This fee is non-refundable.

Performance Fee: $225 for two roles. If additional roles are offered an additional fee may apply. 

Includes:

• Costume fees for all roles (with the exception of shoes, tights, and nude leotard to wear under the costumes and base Leos if required)
• All scheduled rehearsal times (if a student wishes for extra coaching on their role outside of regularly scheduled rehearsals, they must pay the teacher they work with their regular private lesson fees).
• Video of both shows. 
• Performance fee will be split into 3 payments as follows: September 15th – $75, October 15th – $75, November 15th – $75.

Please create an account in the Rising Star Tumbling and Dance Studio Parent Portal, fill out the Nutcracker Audition Form and pay the $25 registration fee.

Yes, an Orientation is planned each year after the Cast List is published.

For 2026, it is scheduled for Saturday, September 19 at 10 am

Audition Requirements for All Roles:

Students must be between the ages of 5 and 18 and in grades K-12. All students must be at least 5 years of age by Sept. 1. Please note that all dancers must be enrolled in a dance class at any Wyoming studio.

There are also some limited adult roles that do not require an audition (read below for more information):

Soloist Role requirements: All dancers auditioning for lead roles (Clara, Sugarplum, Fritz, Nutcracker Prince, and soloist roles, i.e. Spanish, Chinese) MUST also attend the general audition for their age group.

Sugarplum Fairy: Female Role. Minimum of 3 years of ballet training. Must be at least 15 years old. This audition will be en pointe. Please learn the section of the variation in the following video prior to the audition, as it will not be taught during the audition: https://vimeo.com/576817531. Single pirouettes are acceptable; double pirouettes are not required. Select this link to access the music

Nutcracker Prince: Male Role. Minimum of 2 years of ballet training. Must be at least 11 years old.

All Other Soloist Roles: Open to all genders. Minimum of 4 years of ballet training. Must be at least 14 years old. Ladies auditioning for Dolls, Snow Queen, Dew Drop, Chinese, and Merlitons must audition en pointe. Dancers auditioning for Spanish, Arabian, and Russian may audition without pointe shoes.

Clara: Female role. Dancers must have a minimum of three years ballet training and must be at least 11 years of age. Pointe shoes are optional for this audition.

Fritz: Male role. Dancers must be at least 10 years of age.

Adult roles: There are a few roles in The Nutcracker for adults. If you are over the age of 18 and would like to perform with us, please contact Rising Star on our text line 307-242-6085, or call 307-266-4556. 

Volunteers: If you are interested in volunteering behind the scenes, helping with costumes, sets, ushering, or helping backstage, please ask for the Nutcracker Volunteer Form.