Dallin Ogden riding a toy horse as the character Fritz during a November dress rehearsal in Seattle of “The Nutcracker” by Pacific Northwest Ballet.
Lindsay Thomas, photo courtesy Pacific Northwest Ballet
SNOHOMISH — For the Ogden family, dance is not just a pastime but a way of life.
Wendy and Corey Ogden and their four children — Andrew (23), Naomi (18), Jocelyn (15), and Dallin (10) — devote their lives to training and performing.
The Snohomish family, all homeschooled, dance for upwards of seven hours a day, six days a week. Their 75-mile round trip from Snohomish is justified by the prestige of being in the Pacific Northwest Ballet school.
After watching his older sisters perform in ballet and then seeing Jocelyn perform in Pacific Northwest Ballet’s “The Nutcracker,” Dallin begged to join the program, according to Wendy. Last year, his Christmas wish came true when he joined the ballet, and this holiday season he will take the stage in “The Nutcracker.” Dallin will be performing on the McCaw Hall stage in Seattle through Dec. 28 with 37 public performances.
His experience as part of Seattle’s storied Nutcracker production is the culmination of years of sacrifice for the Ogden family.
“Pretty much everything revolves around my kids, their dance, and their aspirations,” said Wendy Ogden.
The siblings’ journey started when Andrew, who now does world and folk dance master classes while attending Brigham Young University, started dancing as a means of therapy for dyspraxia, a motor coordination disability, Wendy said.
“He couldn’t climb play structures, but could tap dance,” Wendy explained, sharing that he started dancing at just 5 years old.
For Andrew, the therapeutic benefits of dance quickly evolved into something more.
“It was like, instead of going and doing these exercises, you go and dance, and it strengthens your core, and it improves your balance, and all that,” he said.
What started as therapy soon grew into a shared passion,
inspiring his younger siblings to follow in his footsteps. All four are now dancers with experience in multiple styles professionally.
“My siblings have just, you know, stood on my shoulders and leapt in. And they have taken what I started and ran and gone far beyond,” Andrew said.
Andrew has trained and performed professionally in tap, folk, ballet, contemporary, lyrical, clogging, and ballroom, while Naomi trained in ballet, tap, modern, contemporary, lyrical, and ballroom.
Naomi said she hopes to go to college for folk dance, like Andrew, as she applies to college this year.
Jocelyn focuses on the same styles at the pre-professional level, with standout roles in Pacific Northwest Ballet productions. Dallin balances his ballet training with tap. Both said that they too would enjoy going to school for folk dance like their older brother Andrew.
“I have friends ask me, ‘Do you actually like dancing, or do you just do it because you have to, or because your whole family does it?’ “ said Naomi, “and I’m like, you don’t understand, they would gladly be able to put that money somewhere else… you have to work for it, you have to want it.”
Jocelyn echoed the same commitment.
“You can do it as a hobby. There are places where you do it as a hobby, but when you come to this level, it’s a sport,” said Naomi.
Dallin said playing Fritz, the mischievous little brother to main character Clara, is a highlight of his experience.
“It’s really special how I can be that character. And how I can get into that character,” he said.
Dallin is busy immersing himself in the show and enjoying the tradition of being part of “The Nutcracker,”
he said.
“With the Christmas season and the holidays,” Dallin said, ”it’s really special how the story of ‘The Nutcracker’ comes to life with ballet.”
