In the height of the Nutcracker season, sophomore Bella Saso, a ballet dancer with the Peconic Ballet Theatre, joined the girls’ varsity cheer team, and Bella is loving the new challenge. It is hard to manage cheer and dance because the practices interfere with each other and the recent Nutcracker rehearsals have made it more difficult.

Bella’s older sister, Gabrielle, was a cheerleader when she was in high school, so Bella thought it would be cool to follow in her sister’s footsteps. Also, when she was younger Bella had been on the cheer team and always wanted to continue.

Cheer and dance have a lot of similarities, such as the strength and memorization, but in cheer you have to be more “peppy and tight,” while in dance it is more “flowy and technical.” She has made numerous friends with both the teammates and dancers.

The “dance fam” has a close relationship, that makes going to long ballet rehearsals more fun. Sidney Heaney and Mia Seitles, both dancers at Peconic Ballet Theatre and friends of Bella’s, love the spirit of Nutcracker and hanging with the “fam” everyday. Bella, Sidney and Mia, can all agree that the best parts of Nutcracker are “dressing up in costumes, the holiday spirit and the motivational vibes when dancing together.”

With the upcoming performances, Bella has had conflicts with cheer, but Nutcracker season is always positive and fun to look forward to.