Dancer from Snowflake is an angel in Nutcracker

We all want our kids to have opportunities and to do well in life. Some folks make the decision to take things a step further.

The Harms family lives in Snowflake which is near the Manitoba/U.S.border. Since September, mom Kimberly Harms has been driving two and a half hours each way to get her three daughters to dance classes at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.

And now one of them is dancing in the production of Nutcracker. So Harms has been driving her youngest - Dakota, to extra rehearsals, coming to Winnipeg sometimes four times in a week.

On Thursday December 19, 8-year-old Dakota will dance on stage with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet as an angel in the annual audience favourite. And in February, her 10 year old sister Morgan will dance in Romeo and Juliet.

Kimberly says she and her husband enrolled their girls in classes at the RWB after their teacher in Morden got injured. When the opportunity presented itself, Dakota auditioned for Nutcracker. She was overjoyed when she found out she got in. "I was at the RWB when I found out so I tried not to jump up and down and scream," she explained. She will be one of the angels on stage. "We make a cake for Clara and the prince and I also get to give Clara her crown," she said with a big grin.

According to Kimberly, there's no turning back now. "When we looked at our girls and how much they love to dance, we just knew that was the decision we needed to make at this point."

As far as Dakota is concerned, she just loves to dance. "I love how they put the steps together and make a really cool dance."

Nutcracker runs from December 20 - 29 at the Centennial Concert Hall.