High school senior Ellie Rotthoff takes center stage with Nutcracker role
When Ellie Rotthoff was five years old, she danced as the “Baby Sugar Plum” with the New Albany Ballet Company’s production of The Nutcracker. Now, 12 years later, the Gahanna Lincoln high school senior is now dancing as The Sugar Plum Fairy, coming full circle to embrace her dream role.
“I have been dancing since I was three years old, so 14 years now,” Rotthoff told 614NOW. “I mainly focus on ballet, but I also do modern, jazz, and contemporary classes a couple times per week.”
Each year, the New Albany Ballet Company has their own performance of The Nutcracker at the McCoy Center, featuring school-aged and high school students with the New Albany Children’s Ballet Theatre.
BROUGHT TO YOU BY
“I started out as the Baby Sugar Plum. And now I am the Sugar Plum Fairy,” Rotthoff reflected. “I just honestly never thought I’d even get to this point. When my mom signed me up for ballet classes at three, she was really only doing it so I could wear a tutu. So, it’s kind of unexpected, but it’s really grown into a really big passion for me and it means so much to be able to do this. It is something I have looked up to since I was really little. It’s really just mind blowing to be able to be here and do it now.”
Outside of her dance training, Rotthoff is in her eighth year of student council, is a member of a mental health and suicide prevention organization at Gahanna Lincoln, and is in the Spanish National Honor Society. Her dedication to her dancing and other extra curricular activities requires Rotthoff to divide up her days into “dance time,” and “school time.”
“It gets tricky at times, but I think I do a really good job in any downtime I get, I am pulling out my homework and doing that right away,” said Rotthoff. “I do some dance training and workouts in the morning before school to get that out of the way, and then as soon as I get home from dance, I can work on homework and everything for school.”
Additionally, Rotthoff is a small business owner, in her fifth year of selling homemade jewelry and shirts under Creations by Ellie. The business took off in 2020 during the pandemic, and has been flourishing on Instagram under the account @shopcreationsbyellie.
“I loved making art and being creative and stuff, and so I one day just started this Instagram page, and started posting things that I made,” recalled Rotthoff. “Some of my family and friends started buying it. And then I just kept going, and never stopped, and never looked back.”
After she graduates high school, Rotthoff is planning to audition for training programs with professional ballet companies, with the dream of turning dance into her full time career. She plans to focus heavily on ballet the rest of her senior year, while preparing to compete with her dance company at the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) for the first time – the largest youth ballet dance competition in the states.
You can catch Ellie Rotthoff and the rest of the New Albany Children’s Ballet Theatre Company at their holiday performance of The Nutcracker at The McCoy Center, located at 100 E. Dublin Granville Road. Tickets and the show schedule can be found when available at newalbanycbt.org/nutcracker.
This is part of 614Now.com’s weekly student athlete feature. Know of an extraordinary high school athlete on and off the field? Nominate them by emailing editor@614now.com.
Want to read more? Check out our print publications, (614) Magazine and Stock & Barrel. Learn where you can find free copies of our newest issues here!
BROUGHT TO YOU BY
