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The Sugar Plum Fairy forgot her makeup.
“It’s all backstage, I’m sorry!” she says, emerging fresh-faced from her Northeast Portland home into the Sunday morning drizzle. Charlotte Nash, a 27-year-old professional ballet dancer, certainly has nothing to apologize for, beautywise, but she’ll be swiping it all back on in a few hours regardless. Nash is one of five Oregon Ballet Theatre dancers to play the Sugar Plum Fairy in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, running at Keller Auditorium through Dec. 24.
Originally from Sammamish, Wash., Nash started in the OBT ensemble in 2021 and was promoted to soloist in 2024. For many, watching the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy every year, set to the tinkling, iconic Tchaikovsky score, is emblematic of Christmas itself and—if we want to get deep with it—perhaps even the feminine ideal. It’s a big role.
“There’s a really long pas de deux that’s really challenging,” Nash says. “My calves get really tired.” When she’s not dancing the Sugar Plum Fairy, Nash plays one of the flower soloists or the hot chocolate lead, both of which are “much chiller than Sugar Plum.”
WW tagged along with Nash on Dec. 8 as she went through her typical pre- and post-show rituals. Here’s how it went:
But First, Coffee
Setting out with Runa, her 5-year-old Aussiedoodle, Nash hits up the quirky neighborhood bakery and coffee shop VilleVelo (1465 NE Prescott St., 503-522-9310, instagram.com/villevelobakeshop), whose décor includes vintage magazine covers and a hot-pink Christmas tree. Nash surveys the bakery case and, after a chat with the proprietor, settles on a slice of chorizo apple cheddar quiche ($6), a blackberry lemon scone ($4.50), and an oat milk latte ($6.50). “They never have any signs, so you have to ask them, and I think that’s really cute,” she says. “Like, ‘what’s in this?’”
Flower Power
Across the street, Colibri Flowers (1454 NE Prescott St., 503-288-8369, colibripdx.com) is her go-to for small gifts for her fellow dancers when they debut in the role of Sugar Plum. She has gotten them a pink poinsettia ($14), a pink “chill pill” ornament ($9), and a berry Wildwood chocolate bar ($15.50). Today, she picks out a little $4 succulent. “My best friends are all in the company, so it’s definitely the best ballet community I’ve been in,” says Nash, who came to OBT from stints at Ballet RI in Providence, Rhode Island, and Houston Ballet. “We’re all rooting for each other, which I think is really rare in a very competitive environment.”
Show Time
“You don’t want to see my feet,” Nash says—and to be clear, I didn’t ask, but I did need a lot of details about one of the most notoriously taxed body parts in any sport. They are callused, and she doesn’t have big toenails anymore, but she considers them “pretty good for a ballet dancer.” She burns through a new pair of pointe shoes ($100–$120) every show when she’s the lead, though she will try to make a pair last a full week during rehearsals.
Nash warms up onstage at Keller Auditorium (222 SW Clay St., 503-248-4335, portland5.com/keller-auditorium) at noon and puts on her makeup and costume, and the performance starts at 2 pm. The city is currently considering renovating the 108-year-old building (which is not earthquake-safe) plus building a new facility at Portland State University. Nash hopes something moves forward sooner rather than later for safety reasons and smaller inconveniences, like a lack of restrooms backstage.
“As a performer, a theater is kind of similar from place to place,” she says. “But sometimes I go into the lobby and I think it could use a little sprucing up. The auditorium is pretty, once you walk in. It’s a little brutalist.”
Before showtime, Nash peeks out at the audience and sees lots of little girls wearing tiaras. “It gets you in the mood.”
Post-Show Provisions
After shows, Nash and many dancers head to The Portland Exchange (1355 SW 2nd Ave., 503-306-4800, theporterhotel.com/eat-drink/#portlandexchange), a little coffee shop and commissary in the Porter Hotel, sometimes still wearing show makeup and hair. But today, her siblings are in town for a bachelorette party, so they go to Luce (2140 E Burnside St., 503-236-7195, luceportland.com) for dinner. “It’s super cute, it’s so intimate.” The snug restaurant is no-reservations and Nash was relieved to get in. The highlight was the buttermilk panna cotta ($8) for dessert.
Bidding the bachelorettes adieu, the Sugar Plum Fairy went home, took a dip in the hot tub with her partner, and went to bed early. “It was a great night.”
SEE IT: The Nutcracker at Keller Auditorium. See website for showtimes, through Dec. 24. $39–$175.
