It was a cold November night, but the Ballet Wichita studio hummed with activity.
There was the pitter-pattering of pointe shoes, the whir of a sewing machine and David Justin, the company’s artistic director, calling out directions over music from Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker.”
“Jump! Zhuzh!” he told a group of young dancers.
“Even though we’re all running, it’s a moment of chaos that becomes order.”
The dancers — all teenagers dancing en pointe, some for the first time on stage — were rehearsing “The Waltz of the Flowers,” one of the ballet’s marquee pieces. For months, they’ve been putting in long hours after school and on weekends to produce Ballet Wichita’s 49th annual performance of the beloved holiday classic, which runs Friday through Sunday at Century II.
The story of the Nutcracker is fairly simple: a girl gets a wooden nutcracker for Christmas. It comes alive — and takes her on a journey through an enchanted forest and land of sweets.
Less simple is all the work that happens behind the scenes to bring the vision to life.
“I take about 10 hours of class per week and then 12 hours of rehearsal,” said 15-year-old Lucy-Rose Miller. “You’ve spent so many hours in the studio that it’s in your DNA.”
She’s one of 89 dancers and 36 musicians in this year’s production. Justin estimates there are three times that number working behind the scenes.
“Conservatively, that’s more than 250 [people] that have had some role in making the magic happen,” he said.
In the lobby outside, the sewing crew is busy getting more than 100 angel costumes, party dresses and soldier uniforms ready for the stage. That includes Tracy Stark and Katie Murphy, who each have daughters in the show.
“I wear whatever hat they give me,” Stark said with a laugh.
She’s a high school math teacher. Murphy works in occupational therapy. On top of that, they’re here six or seven nights a week in the lead-up to performances, fixing and re-fitting costumes.
Tonight, Stark brought her dad along to help with some tutus — because, she said, it’s crunch time.
“I used to take costumes to school with me. I would be sitting at my desk while my students were working on stuff, and I would be hand-sewing embellishments on costumes,” she said.
“And my students loved it. They were like, ‘Ooh — what are you doing with that one?’”
Murphy said the studio’s wardrobe manager, Jan Doran, has been instrumental in helping her develop her sewing skills. After working on dozens of tiny mice costumes, she’s conquered her aversion to ruffles and — this year — zippers.
“I was like, ‘I can do anything now,’ ” she said.
Murphy also acts and dances in the party scene. Underneath all the tulle and sequins, she said, it’s an opportunity to bond with her teenage daughter.
“My daughter was like, ‘Mom, this is our thing to do every year,’” she said. “And I’m like, ‘OK, cool. We’ll do that.’ ”
Back in rehearsal, Miller is rushing into a costume change. She hopes the show — which is often children’s first exposure to ballet — inspires some to get involved in something that’s been so formative for her.
“[Ballet] is so widely applicable,” she said. “The things that you learn in ballet and ballet class, you can take to so many other areas of your life.”
Tickets and more information about Ballet Wichita’s “The Nutcracker” are available here.
