Arts & Entertainment Community

Two In Tow & On The Go | Picking a baby name was a ballet worthy of The Nutcracker

Posted on December 6th, 2024 By: Tonya Strickland

Me and Clara at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Olympia on Nov. 29, 2024. We saw The Nutcracker, and the production comes with a whimiscal sprinkling of faux snow outside the box office.

If there’s one holiday tradition that feels straight out of a snow globe, it’s “The Nutcracker” ballet held at Washington Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Olympia.

This theater classic has everything: a Christmas Eve party, a magic doll that morphs into a real-life prince, and an epic adventure through a glittering dream world of sequins, candy and fluffy tulle. The main character is a fast favorite as she dodges evil mice, takes a sleigh ride with royalty and befriends everyone’s favorite Sugar Plum Fairy.

But for us, watching this delightful ballet was more than just a holiday outing. Why? Because we’ve got our very own Clara! Yep, our daughter shares her name with the star of the show (I mean, really, it’s Clara’s (and Wyatt’s) world and we’re all just living in it). But let me tell you, getting to see Clara watch … well, Clara, was just plain ol’ too cute for words. Our Clara even wore a holiday dress embellished with little nutcrackers across the skirt! Swoon.

Here’s the scoop on our kinda-sorta local trip to the ballet, plus some extra fun on why her name became one heck of a … nutty coincidence for our family.

The baby name drama you didn’t know you needed

facebook.com/the.washington.center | The Washington Center For The Performing Arts 512 Washington St. SE Olympia.

Okay, so let’s rewind to 2013, when Bowen and I were about to become first-time parents. We were so sure we had our daughter’s name locked in by the six month gender appointment. But, at the end of the eighth month, when pregnancy felt less like a magical journey and more like an extreme sport just to get some sneakers on, I … changed my mind. I didn’t know what baby name I preferred, but I knew “Addison Quinn” was not it. (Ps. No offense to the Addisons and the Quinns out there — they’re lovely names — but you just can’t argue with pregnancy brain).

Then, oops, I didn’t tell Bowen. We’d literally spent months agreeing on this other name, and changing it last-minute felt like dropping a bomb on our already crazy pre-baby-prep vibe.

So, I kept quiet … until I had a better name combo in mind. Except, I had zero better ideas, you guys. For weeks.

Early December

Clara lookin’ cool in Downtown Olympia.

Then, one fateful night in early December (aka Clara’s birth month), Bowen was watching Iron Chef, and someone mentioned the name of the culinary expert “Cat Cora.” The unique-sounding moniker caught my attention from the next room — striking all the chords in my mama heart. As I waddled down the Google Search rabbit hole, I started at “Cora,” which then led to “Coral” (so beachy!), and then, finally, to “Clara”.

Clara — with an a on the end — is the Latin feminine form of “Clarus,” meaning “bright” and “clear.” As it turned out, that description fit in nicely with another idea to carry on the middle name “Dawn” from my mom and my sister to our new baby. The meaning of Dawn comes from the day’s first moments — in the bright, clear morning light. Ummmm … Perfect!

Today, I’d say about half the people who meet Clara think her name is “Clare”. While it’s not quite the same (Clare — with no ‘a’ — is of English roots), the just-as-popular “Claire” is nice too (as the French version). But the post-classical Clara (with an ‘a’ and some seriously cool western vibes) was, decidedly, baby name gold.

Dec. 14, 2013

Inside the Washington Center for the Performing Arts. We sat at the front left of the main stage and highly recommend it!

Did I wait until I was in labor to tell Bowen? Yep, I sure did. So nice of me, right? POV of a woman making critical life decisions with her spouse while birthing a human: “You can’t disagree with me now, sucka!!” Lol. Just kidding. Kinda 🙂

While I don’t totally remember exactly how that conversation went (I was a little busy at the time), I do know that here we are 11 years later and instead of an Addison Quinn we have a bright and shining Clara Dawn.

Clara inside the theater at 512 Washington St. SE
Olympia.

But here’s the wild part that I didn’t even realize back then: not only did we have a December baby (then a second December baby with Wyatt in 2015), but Clara is also the name of the main character in The Nutcracker ballet! So here we are looking like Nutcracker superfans with a Christmas-time baby named Clara during the one time of the year the famous ballet is on stage everywhere. And yet, I didn’t even realize it until maybe … her third birthday? (Man, those early baby years are a crazy time).

Fun fact about The Nutcracker story: in some early adaptations, the Clara character is sometimes named “Marie” or “Masha” instead. The story has early 1800s Germany roots, after all. I’ll say upfront, however, that they should all be named Clara forever and ever. She’s adventurous, fearless, and totally ready to take on her dreams. Sound familiar? That’s our kid in a nutshell (pun absolutely intended).

REGIONAL NUTCRACKER OPTIONS |

IF YOU GO:

OLYMPIA

Studio West Dance Theatre Presents: The Nutcracker

This is the group we saw perform. Olympia’s Studio West Dance presented a lovely rendition of the show with mostly younger ballerinas and dancers.

The Nutcracker by Ballet Northwest

Ballet Northwest, an entirely different dance studio, is also performing at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts, but after the Studio West Dance production that we saw is complete.

TACOMA

Tacoma City Ballet presents The Nutcracker

Closer to home, the Tacoma City Ballet presents The Nutcracker in the architecturally pleasing Pantages Theater, accompanied by the Tacoma City Ballet Orchestra. Tickets and info here.

Seattle

The Pacific Northwest Ballet presents George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker show here includes a decorated lobby, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s classic score by the PNB Orchestra.

See ya out there!

Mom and two kids standing with water and boats in the background.

Tonya Strickland is a Gig Harbor mom-of-two and longtime journalist. Now in the travel and family niche, her blog, Two in Tow & On the Go, was named among the 10 Seattle-Area Instagram Accounts to Follow by ParentMap magazine. Tonya and her husband Bowen moved to Gig Harbor from California with their two kids, Clara (10) and Wyatt (8) in 2021. Find them on Facebook for all the kid-friendly places in and around town.