Ballet dads do fancy fatherly footwork

The stern ballet master looked around the mirrored room and clapped his hands.

“Places everyone!” commanded Steven Inskeep.

Toddlers dressed in pink leotards scurried toward a back wall. One made faces in the mirror while others chatted about hair styled in a twisted bun.

“Silence!” he ordered.

Sounds of Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from the ballet “The Nutcracker” emanated from speakers. The little ones shifted their attention to an advanced dancer turning on a pointed toe. Young ballerinas crowded to the center, stretching out their arms.

But focusing too much on the pink tutus, perfectly braided hair buns and free-standing ballet barres would be to ignore the men lined up against a side wall, holding props and listening attentively to Tchaikovsky’s score.

The men call themselves the ballet dads. The group of about 20 are the fathers of daughters performing in Maple Conservatory of Dance’s eighth annual production of “The Nutcracker” from Saturday through Dec. 23.

Though they might not be able to jump in the air with fluidity and grace, the fathers must be quick on their feet when it comes to moving scenery and bringing out the right prop at the right moment, including handing dancers twinkling wands or mice masks on their way to the stage.

“Our dads are really special,” said artistic director Charles Maple, who founded Maple Conservatory of Dance, the official school of the Maple Youth Ballet, with Kathy Crade seven years ago in Irvine. “We consider ourselves a family.”

Maple, who attended the School of American Ballet in New York and worked with prolific choreographer George Balanchine, wanted to create an organization devoted to providing young dancers with the training and performance opportunities to bridge the gap between student and professional dance. After a short span of rehearsals, the Maple Youth Ballet first performed an abridged version of Maple’s “Nutcracker” in 2007.

He said the production and those in the years following would not have been possible without the efforts of the dedicated volunteers and staff. When parents were dropping off their children at dance classes, Maple would ask for help. Fathers would become prop builders, and mothers would make costumes.

“You’d be so surprised how talented people are outside of their jobs,” Maple said.

Michael Johnson, whose 17-year-old daughter, Hayley, has danced with the ballet conservatory for several years, said he loves supporting his child by donating his time. The industrial developer said he heads to the Irvine-based ballet school three times a week to craft props for the upcoming “Nutcracker” production.

“It’s fun to be put to task,” Johnson said recently as he sanded a divider for Grandma Clara’s room. “My favorite part is to watch from the side, and I’m right there watching her. It’s the best place.”

Even brothers are helping their sisters.

Jacob Crittenden, 18, of Fontana said this is his third year of doing backstage duty. When he’s visiting from college, he joins his brother Bailey and father, Jeff, on the production duties during weekend rehearsals.

“It’s a lot of fun being with these people,” Crittenden said. “It’s a cool project.”

The project presents challenges even to the most able-bodied and clear-headed.

After the dads have built props like cannons, oversized presents and sleighs, they become part of the backstage action during the shows. They must move heavy pieces like a 20-foot Christmas tree and a carved grandfather clock quietly onstage. But more importantly, they must memorize musical cues to know when to hand wands to dancers or sweep fake snow off the stage.

“You don’t see all the chaos behind the scenes,” Maple said. “The dancers are depending on these guys.”

The dads set aside five hours on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays to rehearse their backstage movements. With a total of five shows this year, the group forms teams of 10 to take turns working three shows and watching two performances.

When a father sits in the audience and is free to just watch, chances are he’s still thinking about the movements he would be taking onstage or behind the curtains if it was his night to work.

“You start humming the sounds and you start thinking, ‘I have to move that prop,’” Eric Evans said with a laugh.

Linn Cook knew the feeling. “You have to remember, ‘Not this time around,’” he said.

Raising houses, pushing cannons and maneuvering heavier furniture is mainly reserved for Act I, but in Act II, the dads must remain all the more focused for the fewer details.

During a Saturday rehearsal, some held striped hoops to give to dancers, and the teenage brothers went through the steps of pulling a gingerbread house onstage, even though they didn’t have the actual prop for this practice session because it was still being worked on.

Bill Nourse positioned himself behind a life-size wood cut-out of a teapot and rolled the prop into the center of the practice stage. He pulled a lever to make the teapot look as if it were pouring by itself.

“It’s going so smoothly,” Maple whispered. He said he is always amazed at how much moms and dads contribute to the conservatory’s show.

While the dads listened to cues and dancers practiced their roles, a group of mothers sat in the costume shop, threading bodices and placing jewels onto tutus.

“We just have a great group,” Maple said. “We definitely would not be able to do this without people’s enthusiasm.”

For the production’s first performance Saturday night, fathers are being asked to dress in black and wear black gloves for a uniformity that will allow the dancers to identify the helping parents from the simply proud observers. Though they will not take a bow alongside the 80 dancers, these parents deserve one, Maple said.

They serve an integral role in helping their daughters’ dreams come alive. It’s a story, he said, similiar to that of Clara, who wishes to dance joyfully in the “The Nutcracker.”

“All these guys want to be here,” Maple said. “There’s just a huge sense of camaraderie.”

If You Go

What: “The Nutcracker”

When: 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, 6:30 p.m. Dec. 22 and Dec.23

Where: Northwood Performing Arts Theatre, 4515 Portola Pkwy., Irvine

Cost: $28 to $32

Information: (800) 595-4849 or visit mapleconservatory.tix.com