Nutty for the Nutcracker

Carol Naish is nutty about the Nutcracker. She danced her first Nutcracker when she was 12.

Wednesday - December 12, 2007
By Alice Keesing
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life again. Naish was Ballet Hawaii’s acting ballet mistress for a time and still serves on the company’s board.

In more recent years, Naish has branched out into yoga, and she’s a certified instructor in Pilates. She still manages the Naish Hawaii business, although she’s handing more of the job over to youngest son, Rolly. She and Rick have a busy family life with six grandchildren, the most recent addition being Robby’s 9-month-old daughter (he lives on Maui). They also travel overseas a lot, particularly to Italy and Ireland.

But there was no keeping the Nutcracker out of Naish. Five years ago, she started back again, saying with a grin that she’s now old enough to do the character roles.

Over the last 53 years, Naish has spent her Christmases past as a flower, a snowflake, a mom and a grandma. This year she appears as a maid and a rat.

The two roles require a super-quick backstage change, for which she has recruited the help of husband Rick. In one fast minute, she has to get out of her maid costume and into her rat shoes, the huge hooped costume, the rat head and the gloves.

“It’s fun being a rat,” she says. “There’s something very liberating about being inside this big rat costume; nobody knows who you are.”

Naish also loves the opportunities that she’s had to work with the professional dancers who come in every year for Ballet Hawaii’s Nutcracker. This year, New York City Ballet’s real-life sweethearts Andrew Veyette and Megan Fairchild dance the starring roles.

“These are the top principal dancers in their companies,” Taylor-Tongg says. “We are fortunate enough to live in a beautiful place where we can attract some of the finest principal dancers in the nation, and that really inspires the children.”

Meanwhile, the Naish Nutcracker tradition keeps growing. Daughter Christine, who now lives in California, still dances, and her daughter and son are performing this year too.

So how long does Naish plan to keep the seasonal tradition herself?

“As long as they’ll let me,” she says with a nutty Nutcracker smile.

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