Clara is the star of The Nutcracker. She is the young girl who receives the nutcracker doll from her godfather Herr Drosselmeyer and sets the story in motion. Peter Tchaikovsky based his famous ballet on Alexandre Dumas’ short story The Tale of a Nutcracker, itself based on an earlier story by German writer ETA Hoffmann. While each retelling has differed, the role of Clara, sometimes called Marie, has remained central to The Nutcracker. She represents childlike wonder, innocence, and, in some ways, is the embodiment of the Christmas spirit. 

To take on this important role, the Ajkun Ballet Theatre in New York tapped Abbi Johnson, a renowned ballerina, who has been a senior artist at Ajkun since joining in September 2023. Originally from the UK, where she was educated at Queen’s College London, Johnson moved to the US to study at the Joffrey Ballet School-American Ballet Center in New York, from which she graduated in 2022. Joining Ajkun Ballet Theatre represented a milestone in her career as a dancer. 

Being selected to perform the role of Clara—often regarded as an important milestone for young classical dancers—represented a significant achievement in Johnson’s career. “Clara is one of the most beloved roles in classical ballet,” says Johnson. “But the role also requires a lot of preparation and discipline, as well as a passion for storytelling through dance.”

The Journey to The Nutcracker

For Johnson, the journey to playing Clara at the Ajkun Ballet Theatre began in her childhood. From an early age, she was attracted to dance. She credits the children’s show Angelina Ballerina with inspiring that interest. The series profiles a young mouse who loves dancing and dreams of becoming a famous prima ballerina. Johnson soon shared those same dreams.

Her family was supportive, but did not push dance on their daughter. “Where I grew up in North London, many girls are sent to ballet by their parents,” she says. “They do it to encourage creativity and stay active, but I was never forced to dance,” she adds. “My parents just let my brothers and I explore the things we show an interest in.”  

Johnson was also shy as a child, and ballet school offered her a place where she could express herself in her own way through dance. Once Johnson convinced her parents to enroll her in a local ballet school, she says she knew straight away that she had found her own happy place.

“I loved the structure of learning ballet as a tool to take control of my body and what it could do,” she recalls. “And the strive for perfection and virtuosity really set my imagination alight.”

Ballerina Abbi Johnson

A Lifelong Obsession 

For Johnson, ballet and her education continued on, one complementing the other. She attended an academic school in London’s West End. In the evenings, she trained at Highgate Ballet School under Julie Cronshaw, a specialist in the Cecchetti Method of classical ballet, before later attending the Central School of Ballet in London. Slowly she built up her skills and established a reputation as a dedicated and enthusiastic young dancer, performing alongside the National Youth Ballet in the UK several times. “Any chance I could get in London, I grasped it,” recalls Johnson. But for various reasons, she felt the US calling, in part because she had heard good things about the Joffrey Ballet School in New York.  

“New York is a city where some of the ballerinas I admire most reside and perform,” she says, “so I decided just to go for it and sent in an audition video, without thinking too hard about it.”

That letter led her to attend Joffrey, relocating to New York, a city that she says accepts differences, originality, and encourages artistic freedom. “Within weeks of arriving, I felt at home.”

A great opportunity

While she left London, her family, and friends behind, Johnson says it was worth it, as she was devoted to her craft as an artist. It still has taken resolve and discipline, to be in the studio night after night at a time when her friends were out dating and partying. It is that devotion however that has helped her succeed at the Ajkun. After joining the theatre as a senior artist, she took part in its production of Sleeping Beauty in 2023. But it is The Nutcracker that she sees as a next step, both in her career and also as a dancer.

“It is physically demanding to train six hours a day, six days a week,” she acknowledges. While she has had to contend with muscle soreness, injury, and all the other side effects of a career as a ballerina, Johnson says her body can handle the intensity required for the role of Clara.

In particular, she pays attention to her diet. Dancers need to eat more and have to be educated on nutrition to make sure they can meet the requirements of the stage. And she attends physical therapy once a week while taking up pilates to build her core strength and maintain her flexibility. 

To be able to put all of that work into this season’s performance of The Nutcracker is not only a great opportunity for Johnson, but a mark of an ambition in part fulfilled. For Johnson, performing Clara represented the culmination of years of training and dedication. As she prepared to step onto the stage in one of ballet’s most beloved productions, she viewed the role not only as an important artistic milestone but also as the beginning of the next chapter in her career.

Photos courtesy of Abbi Johnson

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