From Deseret News archives:
3 Utah teens are all Clara in Radio City productions
13-year-olds are in rehearsals, won't be home till new year
Courtney Forbes, Alexia Meyer and Megan Skalla, all 13, started dancing when they were 3. And now, all three have been cast as Clara in three Radio City Christmas Spectacular productions.
Courtney, a dancer at the Wasatch Dance Center, will be Clara in the 18-city tour of the spectacular. Alexia and Megan, who both dance at the Dance Club in Orem, will be busy with their own Radio City Christmas productions. Alexia will dance Clara in the Nashville shows and Megan will be Clara in the Chicago and St. Louis productions.
All three will miss at least a month of school, but that's not the reason they're excited. They just want to dance.
"I love it," Courtney said in an interview with the Deseret News. "It's all worth it."
"We started taking class because our moms put us in them," said Alexia.
"But the more we danced, the more we liked it and wanted to do more," said Megan.
The three roads to these big productions came from different angles.
Courtney was encouraged by a friend's mother to try out for "Clara." Her friend Tiare Keeno danced the Clara role the past two years in the touring version.
Courtney, who hails from Wasatch Mountain Junior High in Heber, tried out for the part last year and got on the waiting list, but she was dropped off when she got the part of Clara with Ballet West.
She tried out again in Los Angeles last summer. When Courtney was in New York City for the New York City Dance Alliance nationals, someone called for her mom at the hotel.
"I had no idea who it was," Courtney said. Her mom, Debbie, looked at her, smiled and gave a thumbs up. When she saw her mom writing down tour information, Courtney said she knew she had gotten the part.
"The call came on my birthday," Courtney said. "That was really cool."
Orem resident Alexia, a student at Liahona Preparatory Academy in Pleasant Grove, auditioned in New York while attending the aforementioned NYCDA nationals, which she placed in the top 3 for the past four years.
"I went in for the experience," she said about the auditions. "But then they called me and told me I got the part. I couldn't believe it."
Megan, who lives in Draper and attends Summit Academy, was also in New York when she auditioned.
"I was attending a ballet camp and went to the audition," she said. "I didn't think this would happen, but when it did, I felt really excited."
Again, having three Claras from Utah in a Radio City production is a feat.
