The Sugar Plum Fairy- by Diane Sofia Frank

After my performance of the Sugar Plum Fairy solo from the Nutcracker at the Xmas Party last month, I was asked some questions by a number of people. I thought it might be fun to share the questions and answers with everyone.

Why did I do it? Triess is all about fully expressing your self. But even in a place as safe and appreciative and accepting as Alpha Omega can sometimes feel scary. Maybe if people saw me dancing in a tutu, they’d feel inspired to take a chance and share their talents and express themselves more. So if you whether you play the flute or Tuba, have a gift for sewing, drama or comedy here is a place you can share it.

Was it hard work? Yes, it’s hard work. Learning the steps isn’t hard. I think I spent 15-20 minutes total working with my coach on the sequence. But it takes years of practice and training to be able to do it. You couldn’t expect to take someone off the street and teach him or her how to do it. If you showed them the feet, they’d forget about the hands and head and body. If you showed them how to hold the arms at any time, they’d have trouble coordinating that with the feet. In ballet there are no spare parts, every bit of your body is involved in the performance. To learn that coordination takes years.

Is it really athletic? Yes it is. The sequence I performed was only slightly simplified from something performed by professional companies. The biggest difference is that I don’t dance en pointe. Some of the steps only work on en pointe. Some of the steps I changed at the last minute to fit the space. A professional who I take class with was rehearsing her version at the same time I was mine. Hers was somewhat more demanding than mine but not all that much. She was pretty winded at the end of a run through too. But being half my age, and a professional she recovers a lot more quickly than I do. One virtue to the Sugar Plum Fairy role is that it hails from the dawn of the big story ballet, and pointe shoes hadn’t evolved very far. Thus the technical demands of the piece are less than more modern works.

Why do the Sugar Plum Fairy solo? Well, the Nutcracker is Christmas tradition. I also thought that it was edgier to do such an overtly feminine solo than something more neutral. If we’re going to play with and against stereotypes, let’s go all the way. I’ve been dancing a long time, and I’ve lost a lot of resistance to gender boundaries. It’s all dance, all performance. I’ve seen many roles played by men or women, including those traditionally done by one sex or the other. The fact the male and female dancers can and do carry off each other’s roles often and successfully teaches us something both about how gender is constructed and how it is performed. There is no personal frisson for me in doing this role in particular, but I do recognize how it can push other people’s boundaries. Just the use of the word Fairy is enough to push some people’s buttons.

Where did you get the tutu? We made it as a project. My S.O. made the bodice from the pattern for an 18th century dress. She extended the pattern because of my height. It’s some rather involved sewing, and is boned and closed up the back with countless hook and eyes. I can’t get into or out of the tutu without help. I added the decorative trim to the bodice along the seams and made the skirts. The skirts were 9 layers of tulle and netting. I originally made it for Halloween as three pieces, bodice, skirt and panties. The original skirt was only two layers and was ankle length in the romantic style. To survive the rigors of the performance I made the new 9 layers skirt and attached everything together.

How did it feel to wear a tutu? I was surprised it that it didn’t change the feel of dancing much. I was warned that it might. It isn’t a garment you can sit around in comfortably. It isn’t designed for sitting at all.

Do I have any future performances planned? No. But I’m considering working on the Anna Pavlova’s "Dying Swan" solo. I’ve been told it would work for me by one of my ballet teachers. What might really be fun would be to learn the satirical version done by the Ballet Trocadero de Monte Carlo (the all male comedy troupe). How they get all those feathers into the tutu for the continuous molting I’ll never know. But I’d like to find out.

Have I performed anywhere else? Yes, I’ve performed in recitals with studios back in NY and Pennsylvania. My first roles were the Nutcracker. I did a parent at the Christmas party, the Mouse King and Tea from China. I’ve also been a mechanical doll in Coppelia, and the evil fairy Carrabas in Sleeping Beauty.

Do people in the dance world "know" about me? The dance world is a pretty tolerant and diverse place. I’m not someone who is into "coming out" in a big way. So people draw their own conclusions. Because there are lots of children around I always have to watch out, but that’s due to the general social concerns of our age about inappropriate contact between adults and children.

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