Fathers dance with kids in “Nutcracker”

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(Host)    During the holidays, Tchaikowsky’s Nutcracker Ballet is a tradition   This year, the Adams School of Dance presented the classic.   It’s a performance the school has done for years. 

But as VPR’s Nina Keck reports, in addition to the professional dancers and students, there were some relative newcomers in the cast.

(Keck)   Ben Clark is not a dancer.   He runs a company that makes cookie cutters.  Brian Nolan is in human resources and Paul Waite is a nuclear medical technician.  But they and several other dads will leave their day jobs aside, don costumes and makeup and dance alongside their children in the Nutcracker.   It’s something Ben Clark did for the first time last year.

(Clark) "You know, my girls are in ballet and that’s their primary sport and there’s nothing we can do to help.  Prior to being in it was, we drop our kids off and pick our kids up.    And suddenly we can be in it, we can be involved."

(Keck)   But that’s meant weeks of Saturday morning rehearsals, which for avid hunters like Nolan and Clark is a problem.

(Clark) "It does come up frequently that we can’t hunt on a particular day because we’re dancing, we’re working on a ballet practice.  That goes over big with the deer hunting crowd.” (laughs)

(sound of rehearsal)  

"Okay you’re still a little late with this. . . . Fathers you have to go -you guys have to come in a little sooner.  And, Ben, remember right after this you’re going to have to start.  . . . .And I bump into Clara. . . . And here we go.”

(music)  

(Keck)    Clark plays Drosselmeyer, the character who gives young Clara the Nutcracker.   The other fathers have smaller, but still important roles in the large Christmas party scene at the start of the show.   Clark says compared to the other dancers, their parts are relatively easy.  No leaping, no spins and thankfully, they point out, no tights.

(Clark) (Laughter) “The ribbing has been and continues to be unmerciful.   Um, and I think the real high point was the first dress rehearsal when we all had to put makeup on,   which we don’t normally do in public. That was really fun and again a lot of ribbing.  The neat thing was we got a huge amount of abuse from all our buddies.   But they all came to the show and at the end they said, `Wow it was really good. You guys actually figured this out.’ So overall, it’s been incredible."

(Keck)   Clark’s nine year old daughter Rebecca thinks so, too.

(Clark) "It’s really funny to have him in the show because he makes a lot of jokes and my dad has to wear a lot of makeup and I have to give him some ballet lessons at home (laughs) `cuz he wasn’t pointing his feet.”

(Keck)  “Is he pointing his feet now?”

(Clark) “Yes.”

(Nina) “So, you’ve been successful?”

(Clark)“Yes." (laughs)

(Nolan) "My name is Margo Nolan and I’m 10 years old.”

(Nina)  “What’s it like dancing with your father?”

(Margo)  I think it’s really fun because he never really does it at home a lot.”

(Nina)  “Doesn’t do much ballet dancing at home?”

(Margo)  (laughter)  “No, not as much as he does here.” (laughs)

(Keck)   Twelve-year-old Tegan Waite says the dads have worked really hard and it’s been especially fun to watch her father, Paul.

(Wait) "It’s like my first time actually seeing him dance and it’s really amazing to see this because it’s really outside of his comfort zone.   It’s not something he would normally do every day.  It’s really a fun experience to have him there.  And I think it’s really cool that he decided to do this with me."

(Keck)   29-year-old Chatch Pregger plays the Nutcracker.  He’s a professional dancer who’s performed around the country. 

(Pregger) "It’s pretty nice that the dads are stepping up to the plates to do this.    I’ve been to some other Nutcrackers where the dads were in it and I think it’s nice for the kids to have their dads around and get that acceptance from them and that support.  I think that’s really great."

(Keck)   Ben Clark says that’s why he decided to take part.    But he says watching his daughters and some of the highly skilled dancers like Pregger has given him a new appreciation of how much work and how difficult ballet can be.

(Clark) "As our kids are doing ballet and we see this performance a gazillion times -we don’t really know what’s going on.   It’s a bunch of girls doing things. And now we have a sense of what’s going on.   We can say what’s good and what’s not good.    And it’s made it much more interesting.   It’s like learning the rules of football.  You can appreciate the game a lot more."

(Keck)    Clark and the other dads say their biggest concern is not letting any of the other cast members down.   This is a serious production, they say, with opulent costumes, lush sets and highly skilled dancers. To be part of that with their children, they say, is priceless. 

For VPR News, I’m Nina Keck in Rutland.

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