It is amazing each year that Sharon McCormick and her staff at the Lake Arrowhead School of Dance are able to carry off such magnificent productions of The Nutcracker, but somehow it all comes together and the audiences who pile into the Rim of the World Performing Arts Center are grateful for this delightful, colorful, exciting, adorable, beautiful production each year.
The seats are always filled by parents, grandparents, ballet lovers, excited children and family members and after the final performance everyone involved can look back and sigh and assess the success of the venture that always draws hundreds of people to the Lake Arrowhead facility. This year, of course, was no different.
Each year the lobby is transformed into a fairyland of beautiful decorations and children dressed in Dickens-era costumes. Tucked into the back of the lobby, between the colorful Christmas trees the Arrowhead Arts Association’s strings quintet plays music that adds so much to the excitement of this annual event. The performances of The Nutcracker leaves local dance students with the lifelong knowledge and memories of their participation in this beloved holiday ballet. As a longtime ballet student in my much younger years I have always regretted that I never had the opportunity to dance in The Nutcracker so I hope the parents of these ballet students involved know that all the work, the support, the money it costs for many different expenses, are worth every cent. The children (and all the adults who take part) will remember their participation the rest of their lives.
The costumes for these local productions are always exquisite and from the youngest children dressed in bright costumes and hats that look just like Hershey’s kisses to the magnificence of the Waltz of the Flowers performed by senior dancers in beautifully colored pastel tutus. The exquisite costumes for this wonderful production are always a huge part of “The Nutcracker” experience so an enormous “thank you” and “hats off” to . When these talented senior dancers perform I love hearing the oh-so-soft “plop” of their toe shoes as they hit the stage and it takes me right back so many, many years ago when I wore toe shoes in long-ago productions and talent shows.
Without a doubt each year the production continues to be enjoyed by “standing room only” crowds who cannot help but be in the holiday mood as soon as they enter the Rim High Performing Arts Center. Earlier in the day the otherwise “ordinary” lobby is turned from a “mundane” area into a magical Christmas tree-filled area with musicians, delightful gift possibilities, decorations galore and crowds of people. If you want to see a transformation of an area you need to be present in the center’s foyer prior to and after the performances have ended and it goes back to being a somewhat plain foyer. During the Nutcracker productions the the foyer becomes a “fairyland” for all the performances.
For the past several years some of the Arrowhead Arts Association strings musicians gather around the Christmas tree in the foyer and as people enter or exist the area or have purchased items from the “store” the talented music students play classical music. What a special touch to this festive occasion. Throughout the years the wonderful Arrowhead Arts Association has sponsored local students who want to play an instrument and they help them receive lessons and sometimes help pay for students to rent instruments. This local organization has, and continues to have, such a dedicated philosophy of bringing “music to the mountain” and they sponsor incredible local events throughout the summer and fall.
The ballet company remains eternally grateful to the benefactors who make the performances possible including the San Manuel Bank of Mission Indians. Grand Benefactors include Patricia and Neale Perkins, Soroptimist International of the Rim of the World Communities, the Morning and Afternoon Lake Arrowhead Rotary Foundations, Arlene Alonso on behalf of her daughter, Jessica Liebermann, Nancy and Ken Camarella, Cindy and Tony Gardner, Andrea and Donald Willerth, (the late, wonderful and oh-so missed) Sandy McCormick, Nancy McCormick, Barbara and Ron Doutt, Cheryl Russell and “Friends” Barbara Carbajal, Valerie Immel, Eileen Pickering, Hugh Bialecki and Lori Semeniuk, Rene Lagler, Gloria Loring, Debbie George, Agnes and George Peterson, James Ferranti, Margaret Stivers and Patrick and Jo Bonita Rains. Without the financial support of benefactors it is most likely that the productions of The Nutcracker would cease, or certainly would not be the same, because the expenses for the performances are very high.
Each year the ballet company hires professional ballet dancers who specialize in performing the roles of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Cavalier. Many people who attend this thrilling production believe the dancers are former dance company dancers but that isn’t true. The ballet company pays thousands of dollars to bring the “prime roles” to the audiences. The company’s expenses include plane fare (from wherever the premiere dancers are from), food, housing at the Lake Arrowhead Resort and other expenses. The company pays thousands of dollars each year to have professional dancers who specialize in the roles of this always-exciting Christmas ballet. It’s worth every single cent but it is costly so without benefactors the local ballet company would, most likely, not be able to present the wonderful, creative, charming, fun, beautiful ballet it has done for years upon years.
This annual production truly is a delightful “bon bon” and such a special part of the holiday season. Many patrons have attended year after year after year and they don’t have children or grandchildren in the production. They attend because it’s local, it’s delightful, it’s colorful and filled with love and not attending would be unthinkable. Remember, love comes in many different ways and I, and hundreds of other people, love the annual performances. It’s always good to see returning dancer Jeremiah Tatum who absolutely slithers with his partner Ali Goodman while she dances as the snake around his body as part of the Arabian dance. It is truly a remarkable dance and always appreciated by the audience.
One of these years it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Santa came down to Lake Arrowhead, pulled by his trusty reindeer, just to see what everyone’s talking about. I can guarantee he’d be thrilled all the way back home to the North Pole.
And so, “Clara,” the production is over for another year. It’s time to tuck away the beautiful costumes, the sets and glance back to review the productions, tuck away all the fabulous gifts from the gift counter, thank the Rim of the World School District for the use of the performing arts center and to look forward to next year when it will be “Nutcracker” time in Lake Arrowhead once again.
This year the “plum” role of Clara went to dancer Victoria Lynn Peterson. She was charming and her dancing was wonderful in this not-to-be-forgotten role as the child who opens and loves the Nutcracker. The production wouldn’t be the same withouters longtime perform Eddie and Merry Escalera who performed (for the first time) the roles of party-givers Herr and Frau Stahlbaum. Another longtime dancer, Gregory Valladao performed his “signature role”as the magical Herr Drosselmeyer and he has danced in the Spanish segment for the past several years. Another longtime cast member is Ray Genato who “morphs” into the role of the Mouse King so beautifully. He is a 15-year veteran Lake Arrowhead Classical Ballet Company dancer and it’s always thrilling to see him as the swashbuckling Mouse King. Such fun and children love this part of the performance!
The continuity of the production, of so many of the dancers (“guests” or “regulars”) helps keep the community feel of the exciting Christmas tale. If you didn’t attend this year as soon as you get your 2015 calendar mark it down…or at least be aware that next year’s performances are only 365 days (or so) away.
See you next year!
Joan Moseley's Mountain Top Echoes 