Pacific Northwest Ballet School student Huang Zeheng plays the prince in George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker®”, choreographed by George Balanchine © George Balanchine Trust. Photo © Angela Sterling.
Huang Zeheng has been selected to play the prince as the Nutcracker of the Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB), which will be performed in McCaw Hall on December 28. “He may be one of the few Asian men in this role,” his mother Lilian Chen told Northwest Asia Weekly. The Nutcracker used to have several Asian female dancers.
A student at Denny International Middle School, 12-year-old Huang has been dancing with PNB since he was 8.
Chen said that her son would dance and jump in the house like on a stage. A few years ago, PNB came to Seattle Public Schools to recruit students. After an audition, Huang was selected to enter PNB with a scholarship. Recently, Huang was invited to audition for the role of The Nutcracker. Huang did not expect to be selected. But his mother knew he would be because he was passionate about ballet and often practiced at home. Huang is one of the two substitutes for the role of the prince. Before The Nutcracker, Huang also performed in other shows.
