""When I first joined the Oakland ballet, Graham helped me with finding the artist side of me, not just the technique and the precision, but finding the artistry with the movement that I was doing," Quezada said. "He pushed me to do more, and had a lot of faith. That helped me grow ultimately.""
""My favorite is 'Luna Mexicana' because you don't see much of Mexican culture in ballet, and it's the part of me that I get to share with everyone, because my family is from Mexico," she said. "It is a part of my heritage, and I love being a part of it.""
""This is about jumping to show those beautiful shapes in the air ..." Lustig tells the group."
Dancers rehearse at the Malonga Arts Center in downtown Oakland for Graham Lustig's The Nutcracker, with performances set for Dec. 20 and 21 at the Paramount Theatre. The company marks its 60th anniversary and Lustig's 15th season as artistic director. Roughly two dozen dancers are in intensive rehearsal, practicing scenes five days a week for the past 28 weeks and visibly sweating through the work. Dancer Jazmine Quezada, 25 and in her seventh season, performs the Sugar Plum Fairy and reprises Luna Mexicana, a role that allows her to express Mexican heritage within ballet.
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