My
first experience with the Sacramento Ballet's production of The Nutcracker was
not wholly a good one. This happened long before Ron Cunningham came on
the scene. Barbara Crockett was still the Artistic Director and the company
had not attained professional status yet; the ballet studios were downtown on H
Street and they were dinky by today's standards. I was 10 years old and I
went to the audition (by height) for Soldiers. I was turned away. I
didn't realize I really wanted to be in the production, until I was told I
wasn't good enough. This made me first: cry, and second: get back in the
studio and work really hard. I made the part of Soldier the following
year, and was in the 1976 production. It was difficult for me to count
the music, I was the smallest Soldier and I had to lead out downstage. I
got yelled at a lot in rehearsals because I kept missing the entrance, but
finally got the hang of it. Clearly I was not ready for that role the
previous year! This experience helped me greatly along the way in my
career. Just because I wanted a role didn't mean I would get it, or that
I was right for it. Knowing I could persevere and work hard enough at 10
years of age, made me pretty sure I could do that as a pre-profesional and
ultimately as a professional dancer. That casting board is always on our
minds . . .
• In
Ron's first year as Artistic Director, he sort of inherited me as a dancer.
I had been dancing in the company for the two or three years it had been
professional, and when he came in to audition us, he kept me. I loved
working with him! He was especially entertaining during the Nutcracker rehearsal
period (although I found him to be entertaining most of the time). He had
great stories to tell about his previous experiences. He has always been
a fabulous Uncle Drosselmeyer. Comic timing is one of his strong suits,
and he has many! We always rehearsed Party Scene at the end of the day,
which made sense because it was not physically taxing, and he must have been
exhausted by the time we got to those rehearsals. I remember rehearsing
at the Eastern Star Temple, which was sort of darkly lit, and having barely
enough energy to pay attention. Those rehearsals were a challenge.
To make matters worse -- or better, depending on how you looked at it --
the two funniest men ever were in the same rehearsal: Robert Kelley and Steve
Wolf. Those two could make me cry from laughter within seconds.
They both wanted to be serious, but were basically incapable, especially
in the Temple at night with that Party Scene music playing. We had so
much fun. I am glad (and impressed) that Ron survived those rehearsals.
•
One of the most hilarious experiences Nutcracker ever brought me
was when Alex Cunningham was about 4 years old. She was sitting up front
in a bar stool which swung around and she was mimicking her father in
rehearsal. He was giving us instructions about the freeze in the
Party Scene, and she was doing a spot-on impersonation of him. I thought
I was going to pee my pants. But it was the end of the day and we were
all tired, I'm sure Ron was tired as well, so I did my best to hold it
together. It was all I could do to get through that rehearsal.
Really, if I had a video camera, she would have been on America's
Funniest Home Videos. Who knew at the time that little Alex would turn
out to be one of the most beautiful dancers Sacramento Ballet ever had?
She definitely inherited her father's sense of humor at a young age.
Ron never saw her mimicking him -- I'm sure he wouldn't have been happy
at that moment. But she kept a room full of dancers entertained for at
least an hour with her antics, and she managed not to get caught - smart girl!
•
One year we had 5 couples rehearsing Snow Pas de Deux. It would have been
around the early nineties. The fifth couple was a young couple, I think
they were both apprentices, and this was their first big roles. They were
both beautiful dancers and were doing a great job in rehearsals. One day,
Ron announced to all of us that the 5th cast would be unable to perform because
there was no way to cover the young man's role in the Battle Scene while he was
doing Snow. He was a Mouse. So I volunteered to do his Mouse part
for him that performance (or were there two?). I had never even watched a
rehearsal of the Battle Scene, so I had no clue what this entailed, but I
figured for the most part it meant putting on one of those big Mouse costumes
and scurrying around. I was mostly right, except there is definitely choreography
for the Mice! I think Ron took a few minutes and talked me through what
the role was, then showed me this little girl I had to pick up at one point.
I think I had one run-through on stage before the performance. It
was really pretty scary, I had at the most a vague idea of what I was doing.
Mostly I tried to follow the other mice, but it was really hard to see
out of those heads! I hope I didn't mess up the whole scene. And
that little girl was heavy! I remember barely being able to pick her up.
Anyway, the Snow Pas de Deux, as I remember it, went really well and I
was so happy to be able to help give them a chance to perform it. That
Snow Queen has been a principal dancer with Atlanta Ballet for years now . . .
I like to think that my stint as a clueless Mouse helped her along her way to
success as a dancer. The great thing was: no one knew which Mouse I was
because of the costume!
•
Nina Baratova and I shared a dressing room backstage for something like ten
years, always the same room. After every Nutcracker performance,
without fail, Ron would walk by, knock on the door and say "Great job,
ladies!". Nina and I looked at each other the one performance I
wasn't dancing in at all, and she was a Maid in the Party Scene, and laughed.
The sentiment to never forget his dancers rung true and we appreciated
it, even if we did laugh that one day. That, or she was one heck of a
Maid!
• Sometime
late eighties or early nineties, we were doing shows in the mornings for
schoolchildren. After I was finished dancing, I went out front to watch
the second act. Halfway through the Waltz of the Flowers, the power went
out. Who knows what happened. The theater back-up generators came
on, but the dancers were in work lights. I'll never forget, it was as
though planned and rehearsed: the Flowers got in straight lines and stood in
B+. Immediately, as though it had been rehearsed! Amazing. I
don't know what got into them or how they all knew to do that, but
they did. Then the curtain came in and I guess the power came back on.
The curtain opened on the Grand Pas de Deux, and the show went on from
there as though nothing had happened.
•
One day Carinne decided she wanted to surprise Ron onstage. He was doing
the role of Dr. Drosselmeyer (or is it Uncle, I can never remember) and I was
Clara's mother. Carinne asked me if she could do my part that day.
I think I was also doing Snow Queen, so I was happy not to do that quick
change, and I gave my blessing -- which I would have done anyway. So,
without any rehearsal, Carinne got made up and put on that big party dress and
my shoes -- I wore a 8.5 and I think she's probably a 5 or 6. She was great
in the scene, even though the shoes were off her feet most of the time,
flopping around but held on by the ankle strap. I can't believe she
didn't hurt herself in them. As I remember, Ron was pretty surprised to
see her onstage, as were all the other dancers.
•
The most important thing I learned from Ron doing his Nutcracker all
those years, is that it's all about the children. There are roles large
and small, for every age and ability and he does the greatest job of showing
them to their best advantage. If a group of similarly talented or trained
children auditioned for him, he would create a new role for them. I
remember when he added the Candycanes to what used to be a solo for a company
dancer. He knows how to get them excited about dance, and he also
realizes that the kids in the audience are just as important. I've taken
this with me in our productions in Santa Cruz and always remember that Nutcracker is
for and about the children. He's right - Thank you, Ron!
~
Diane McLarty Cypher
Sacramento
Ballet dancer 1980-1997 (or something like that)
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