Dublin's Avery Splan, 10, gets role in DOH's 'The Nutcracker'

Dublin Elementary School student Avery Splan wants to dance forever.

“I feel like I’m flying,” Avery said about the feeling she gets while dancing. “I don’t think of anything, I just kind of let my mind go blank.”

At 10-years-old, the precocious dancer has already been involved in competitive dancing for about three years. This month, she will perform for the second year in the Detroit Opera House’s annual production of “The Nutcracker.”

Dubbed “The Big Cheese,” by friends and family, Avery will be playing the part of a mouse and carrying a large piece of cheese on the stage. But unlike her character, she isn’t quiet about her enthusiasm.

“She isn’t shy at all,” Avery’s mother, Elizabeth Splan, said Monday, Nov. 5 while driving her daughter and her friend to dance class.

“I want to be famous,” Avery said. “I want to dance forever.”

Elizabeth Splan said Avery has been dancing since she was about 3-years-old. A student at Dublin Elementary in the Walled Lake Consolidated School District, Avery began competitive dancing at age 7.

After attending a performance of “The Nutcracker,” she was invited to audition for last year’s show and was selected to perform. This year she will be in two of the four performances offered at the Detroit Opera House.

The BalletMet Columbus’ production of “The Nutcracker” is considered a quintessential holiday event for hundreds of professional dancers, as well as children. The show includes narration by Sir Roger Moore and Tchaikovsky’s musical score played by the Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra.

The show will run from Nov. 23 to Nov. 25. Avery will perform in the Nov. 23 show at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 24 at 2:30 p.m. Additional shows include a 7:30 p.m. performance on Nov. 24 and a 2:30 p.m. performance on Sunday, Nov. 25.

For more information, visit www.michiganopera.org online.