A Knoxville High School student will be center stage this holiday season, as he takes on one of ballet’s most iconic parts — the principal role in “The Nutcracker.”

Lane Franck has been taking ballet lessons for a while, but this will be his first opportunity to dance in a full-fledged ballet role; and for his debut, he’ll be on stage in Des Moines during the Iowa Dance Theatre’s production from December 14th through 16th.

Lane tells KNIA/KRLS News even though he’s comparatively new to ballet, he believes he’s up to the challenge of performing at this level.

“I’ve never been in a ballet before so, it’s a lot different than a regular dance routine because there aren’t really any counts to go to the music — you just have to listen to the music and the orchestration,” Lane says.

“And also the veteran people who have been doing it since they were three years old definitely know the ballet in and out, so just learning little tips and tricks from them has been really interesting.”

Lane will get to share his knowledge with some other students from Knoxville; there will be a field trip for second-graders up to Des Moines to see one of two scheduled performances aimed at school children…and Lane will have the opportunity to meet with them, and discuss the finer points of the show and of ballet dancing.

The two school performances, as well as the public presentations, will be at the Civic Center in Des Moines; the shows for the general public will be on Saturday, December 15th at 2:00 and 7:00 p.m. and on Sunday, December 16th at 2:00 p.m.