Whether on ballet pointe or in skates, 12-year-old Nancy Gallacher gracefully commands the audience’s attention whenever she enters the stage. This December the petite blonde will perform in the International Ballet Theatre’s showing of “The Nutcracker,” dubbed the ‘Eastside Nutcracker’ to differentiate it from Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Seattle show.

Gallacher will combine her love of skating with her passion for dancing at the production, but it took her many years to reach this level of performance. Her mother, Alex Gallacher, enrolled her in dance classes at age three, and she’s been on the go ever since. When in England, she studied with the Royal Ballet School and she started at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School at age five following her family’s move to Snoqualmie Ridge. After much practice, Gallacher now has three McCaw Hall performances of “The Nutcracker” under her belt.

“It’s something I enjoy,” Gallacher said. “I make lots of friends. It’s a fun place to be.”The thrill of dancing at McCaw Hall was great, but the class sizes at Pacific Northwest Ballet were too large for Gallacher’s liking. In 2008, she switched to the International Ballet Theatre, where she enrolled in modern, jazz and character dance classes, on top of classical ballet.

“I wanted to try a different style,” Gallacher said, and that’s exactly what she got. Seattle Metropolitan magazine named the International Ballet Theatre in its “Best of the City 2009” edition. The theatre’s founder and artistic director, Vera Altunina trained in St. Petersburg, Russia and started the Kirkland-based company in 2001. She trains her dances to tie emotion to the artistic technique of dance.

International Ballet Theatre’s production is based on the ballet’s original St. Petersburg production from 1892. Even the sets and costumes come from Russia, Altunina said.

“Its very traditional,” Altunina said. “Our production gives that opportunity to everyone what the characters are trying to express; what they are saying without words but with facial expressions.”

Composure Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s music called for an ice skating scene, Altunina said, “but since nobody can skate on stage in pointe shoes, it was impossible to do that.”

Thanks to Gallacher, skating can now be achieved on stage.

In addition to ballet, Gallacher is a master inline skater. While her younger sister Lily Gallacher was in the hospital, she stayed with a friend. Her friend took her to skating lessons at Skate King, and the rest is history. The nimble dancer felt natural on wheels, and it wasn’t long before Seba Skates noticed her talent and sponsored her to advertise their products.

Now, Gallacher skates in competitions and recently placed sixth in U.S. battle style at a 2009 international skating competition in Boston.

In “The Nutcracker,” Gallacher will skate on stage to Tchaikovsky’s music.

“It gives the feeling she is on the ice with the sleigh and having a wonderful time during the snow time,” Altunina said.

Gallacher also dances in the “Waltz of the Flowers” and as a mouse. Last year she played Clara, a pixy and a party girl.

Her younger sister, 7-year-old Lily Gallacher will also dance in this year’s production, even though she is not part of the ballet company. Lily Gallacher was born with a rare form of bone dysplasia, which makes it difficult for her to breathe. But that doesn’t keep her from joining her big sister on stage.

“Lily, she is just so hungry for life,” Altunina said. “She has some medical problems, but she expresses so much love to every moment of her life.”

Altunina cast Lily as a mouse princess, and “I never have to look for her, she is always in the right place,” Altunina said.

The girls’ mother said it was “very emotional” to see her younger daughter dance with the older.

“It is so incredible because (Lily) was on a ventilator four years ago,” Alex Gallacher said. “It makes me feel very proud for them to be doing it.”