Dedicated dancer

Hayleigh Green got a tiny taste of her childhood dream as understudy for the role of Clara in the Nutcracker for Ballet Etude last year. This year, the 13-year-old Dwyer Middle School student got the whole enchilada, an understudy no more.

She would play the main role of Clara, the young girl who travels to a magical world with her toy nutcracker for the ballet company based in Westminster. Then one day in October, a simple roll of her ankle complicated things.

“I thought I’ll put ice on it and be back in five minutes, but then it started to swell,” Hayleigh said.

For more than a month, with her foot in a cast, she never missed a rehearsal.

“I wanted this part ever since I knew what it was,” Hayleigh said.

Now the cast is off and she is ready to go for the 2006 installment of Ballet Etude’s Nutcracker, opening this weekend in the Huntington Beach High School Auditorium. The final rehearsals were held last Saturday and Sunday in the Huntington Beach Dance Academy Studio, and everyone is confident of the show they have to put on.

“This is our 10th year doing the show,” Tami Simons said. Her daughter Madison Simons, 17, of Huntington Beach, is playing the dual lead roles of the Sugar-Plum Fairy and the Snow Queen, a massive undertaking for any dancer. And this is her second year playing both parts.

“You wouldn’t believe she works so hard,” Ballet Etude creative director Julie Ertl said. “Probably dancing 15 hours a week, in class every single day.”

Since rehearsals began in the summer, Madison has gone through 18 pairs of ballet slippers, which were donated by Dance Threads in Huntington Beach. Mom was thrilled someone else offered to pick up the bill, she said.

Also, Madison started teaching the younger kids, adding six hours of classes to the six of practice and many more of rehearsals for the Nutcracker, her mother said.

“She has a ballet barre in her bedroom,” Simons said. “If we watch a movie at home, she’s stretching through the whole thing. She’s very dedicated and driven. It is totally her passion.”

Madison is also thrilled to be partnered with professional dancer, Edward Johnson of the Anaheim Ballet, playing Herr Drosselmeyer. Actually just about everyone at Ballet Etude is thrilled about that.

Johnson is a fabulous dancer, performing and instructing throughout the county, Ertl said.

“I trust him completely with Madison, not to drop her on her head,” Ertl said jokingly.

Sure the hours are stressful for the home-schooled high school senior, but this second year of performing the two major roles have been much more relaxed for her, her mother said.

“It’s a lot of work, but now that she’s done it once before, it’s more fun and light-hearted,” Simons said.

But for others the show has been a novel experience.

The Prince, played by 14-year- old Marina High School fresh- man quarterback Jeff Schenett, has really been catching people’s attention. Having never danced out of the end-zone before, he has taken to the craft quite well, and Ertl has noticed.

“He’s pulling it together,” Ertl said, adding it’s different being onstage, but he’s learned to lift Clara and perform stage sword fighting.

Many family members have joined in the show as well. Jeff’s sister is a dancer in show. Hayleigh’s 15-year-old sister Dannielle Green plays the Rat King, and her mother on stage will be played by her real mother, Robbyn Green.

“Every time I come over to the corner she smiles and tells me, ‘You’re doing a great job — don’t forget to point your toes,’” Hayleigh said.

It seems the role of Clara has been quite troublesome for the company. Last year as understudy Hayleigh also injured herself, and Madison had her appendix removed the year she played Clara.

The show opens this Saturday with performances at 2 and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Huntington Beach High School Auditorium. On Dec. 10, the show moves to the new Rose Center Theater in Westminster for two performances. The show returns to Huntington Beach Dec. 12 and 13 with performances at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Central Library.

Tickets are $20 at the door, and $14 if purchased ahead of time. For more information, call (714) 793-1150.