For Ashley Hod, getting to play one of the lead roles in the New York City Ballet’s production of the “The Nutcracker” is a dream come true.
“I was like freaking out when I found out,” said Hod, 19, who grew up in Great Neck. “It was so crazy.”
The former Great Neck South High School student said she learned she had been selected to play Dewdrop on Dec. 28 and Dec. 31 while coming back to her apartment in Manhattan from her grandfather’s funeral a couple of weeks ago when she saw about five text messages from her friends telling her the news.
“It was raining outside, and I just stood there in the rain,” Hod said. “Then I grabbed my phone and called my sisters and my mom and dad and started freaking out to all of them.”
Hod said she has been dancing with the New York City Ballet for two years, but in smaller roles.
She said she is currently one of 12 girls in the same dance number as the current Dewdrop, who leads all the other dancers during the “Waltz of the Flowers” segment of the ballet.
Besides “The Nutcracker,” Hod has also appeared in “Swan Lake” and “Sleeping Beauty” with the New York City Ballet, she said.
Hod said she started dancing at the Great Neck School of Dance around the age of four, and when her mother later saw her potential, Hod was taken to audition before the School of American Ballet, which she said is considered the training school for the New York City Ballet. She was admitted to the School of American Ballet in 2003, where she trained for nine years before getting into the New York City Ballet in 2012 at the age of 17.
Ashley’s father, Ayal Hod, said Ashley attended Great Neck South her first two years of high school and attended online school for the last two years of high school to focus on dancing.
Hod said she was surprised to learn that she had been chosen to play a lead role in the “Nutcracker” – a mainstay of the of the New York City holiday tradition.
“Everyone [in the company] is so extremely talented,” she said. “Everyone at some time gets to showcase what they got and if you can rise to the occasion you will get more opportunities.”
Hod said that on top of her regular workload for the ballet, she had to learn the Dewdrop routine.
She said watching the regular Dewdrop each night is mesmerizing.
The Dewdrop role, she said, is typically given to one of the principal dancers, which is the highest level of dancer in the ballet. She said she is currently a member of the corps of dancers, which is two steps bellow a principal and one step below a soloist.
“That’s why it was such a big deal,” Hod said. “I’m only 19 and got in [to the company] two years ago. Some pretty prestigious people have danced before me.”
The roles for each ballet dancer are not auditioned for each time the company does a production – once you get into the company, you are in. The company then picks among its own dancers who will fill each role, Hod said.
“Your parts are basically in their hands,” Hod said. “You resign your contract every year and you just keep doing what you’re doing.”
Before she goes onstage, Hod said, she likes to think about her family and how she most likely would not be where she is without them. She also said she likes to go out on stage as happy as possible.
“I like to give the audience my passion,” Hod said. “I try to go out there with the biggest smile on my face.”
Hod also said it is important for a dancer to enjoy what he or she is doing while working.
“I don’t like to think constantly about being promoted,” Hod said “That sucks the fun out of it. But it is everyone’s dream to be a principal dancer. I am feeling so lucky to be here.”
