When she was younger, Mt. Laurel resident Maddie McCann-Colvard was an extremely active child.
She participated in a number of activities, including gymnastics, Girl Scouts and soccer.
However, Maddie’s №1 love has always been ballet.
Maddie, 11, will participate in the South Jersey Ballet Theater’s production of “The Nutcracker” for the fourth time this winter. The show runs from Dec. 19 through Dec. 21 at Voorhees Middle School.
Maddie originally auditioned for the show at the age of 7. However, she has enjoyed ballet for a long time.
“Just watching other people do it, it looked like a lot of fun,” she said. “I just like getting ready for it and doing the dances.”
Maddie has gotten the opportunity to play a variety of roles in the show. In the past, she has played a clown, sugar plum assistant, angel and party boy. This year, she will perform as a party girl and snow assistant.
Despite performing a different part each year, Maddie doesn’t get nervous. She enjoys performing under the lights in front of a packed house.
“I may have been a little nervous when I first started, but I don’t think I would be nervous (now),” she said.
Maddie has been able to fine-tune her dancing skills as part of the Mei Mei dancers, a dance troupe for girls who were adopted from China. The McCann family adopted Maddie when she was 14 months old.
“It’s kind of like folk dancing,” said Maddie’s mom, Susan. “All of the songs have different things happening.”
Susan said Maddie joined the dance troupe a few years ago. The group has given Maddie the ability to be in touch with her roots.
“She sings about Chinese culture, she took Mandarin lessons,” Susan said. “We celebrate Chinese holidays with this group. We always knew she was a dancer.”
Susan believes Maddie’s experience in performing has something to do with her courage. However, she also believes Maddie has a confidence unlike what many others have.
“I think it’s amazing because she really doesn’t get very nervous,” Susan said. “A lot of people and adults still get jitters before she goes on. She has a confidence about it that amazes me.”
Maddie’s love of dancing led her to eventually drop her other activities. She describes going to shows such as “The Nutcracker” when she was 3 years old and how much she enjoyed watching them.
“It was really cool because I was watching what these older kids did while I was in the audience,” she said.
In addition to dancing, Maddie enjoys art and tapping into the creative side. She participates in the STEP art program at Hartford School and likes to work on little projects when she has free time.
Maddie’s favorite type of art is making items out of other materials.
“I went to a party recently and I found a bunch of things and was able to make a coaster out of it,” she said.
“She likes to make projects out of things that she finds,” Susan said. “She goes to camp all summer, and she loves making things out of other things.”
Don’t expect Maddie to leave the world of dancing for abstract art, however. She plans to keep dancing well into her high school years.
Maddie can be seen in “The Nutcracker” on Dec. 19 at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 20 at 1 and 4:30 p.m. and Dec. 21 at 2:30 p.m. at Voorhees Middle School. For tickets or more information, visit www.southjerseyballet.com or call (856) 309–8282.
