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Doctors/Therapists
Dancing Dads Find It's Never Too Late To Volunteer
by Tracey Hartman
November 25, 2000
During the day they are engineers, medical assistants, and mathematicians. But some nights they wear ballet shoes, tights, and more makeup than their wives. Most are not professional dancers, and many did not start until they were adults.
One thing is the same, however, for nearly all of the male company members of Kitsap Peninsula Dance Theater - how they got started.
"Someone asks you to be a "prop" - just stand on stage with your foot on a bale of hay - and next thing you know you're taking ballet classes," says 45-year-old Charlie Wilson. With no training as a dancer until he was in his mid 20s, Wilson has been performing with Peninsula Dance Theater (PDT) since 1982.
"I was taking my daughters to dress rehearsals when the director approached me," says Jim Hochstein. "The first year, I was just involved with costumes." But Hochstein's behind-the-scenes role would be short-lived. In 1992, at the age of 47, he began taking ballet classes.
PDT is a nonprofit performance art group, and a member company of Regional Dance America/Pacific. Artistic Director Lawann Morrison founded PDT 26 years ago as a means to promote dance in Kitsap County. Morrison has been instrumental in inspiring the men to dance. Often, as Wilson notes, by offering them roles as "props".
Forrest Steiber was taking dance to fulfill a Physical Education requirement at Olympic College when Morrison asked him to be a prop back in 1993. "They just keep me because I can throw the girls around," says Steiber, a massage therapist.
Chris Acker was recruited eight years ago while still in high school studying theater. "It's the quantifiable things that I like about dance," he says. "If you can do five pirouettes, you can do five pirouettes." Acker went on to study ballet at the University of Utah and dance professionally with Ballet New England before returning to the Northwest and PDT in 1997.
Of all the men, Chris Williams has been with PDT the longest. "I moved to Bremerton in 1980 to work in the shipyard," says Williams. New to the area and previously a dancer, Williams soon found classes to take at Bremerton Dance Center, the school Morrison owns and operates, and with which all PDT company members train.
For Charlie Wilson, dancing with PDT is truly a family affair. His three sons - Pat, Eric, and Sam - also dance. Eric started as a sophomore in high school when he was asked to fill in for his brother, Pat. "For awhile, I was dancing more than my friends were working," the 20-year-old says. The youngest Wilson brother, 15-year-old Sam, made his debut with PDT in last year's Nutcracker.
All PDT members are assigned company classes to take at Bremerton Dance Center. Most attend two or three a week. "I probably put in 15 to 20 hours of studio time a week when rehearsing for a show," says Williams.
All of the men volunteer their dance time. In fact, as company members, they pay a fee to dance with PDT.
Barely breaking even with their operating budget, PDT holds three performances a year to which they charge admission. Their annual performance of the Nutcracker is PDT's "cash cow." From ticket sales to that performance, they usually net $8,000 or $9,000, which they use to send dancers to festivals or on tour.
In 1999, PDT raised money by selling Christmas wreaths, participating in the Safeway coupon drive, and holding both a car wash and a rummage sale. They also rely on individual and corporate donations, such as The Boeing Company's recent offer to match donations their employees make to PDT.
With more than 30 company members to support, PDT has a tremendous need for volunteers. "There are all kinds of support positions that don't get filled," says Steiber, noting things like set design, costuming, and transportation.
Many PDT company members have gone on to professional dance careers. Several, including one of the men, Michael Wojack, have worked professionally with Pacific Northwest Ballet. Megan Burger, a PDT company member and high school sophomore, was recently selected to study with the Joffrey Ballet in New York City.
The men (there are 13 total in the company) admit there is less rivalry for their roles as dancers. "Guys are always in short supply and we really work together," says Charlie Wilson. "For the women, it's much more competitive."
The camaraderie among the men of PDT is apparent. They are very much at ease with each other and confident in what they do. "We went to the store last night and forgot we still had our makeup on," says Sam Wilson. "We've had some pretty interesting experiences involving makeup," adds brother, Eric.
Makeup experiences are not the only interesting stories the Wilson brothers have to tell. How many other young men can say their mother went into labor alone while attending a performance of the Nutcracker?
And where, might you ask, were the father and older brothers? On stage, dancing, of course.
Peninsula Dance Theater is performing The Nutcracker Friday, December 1, 2000 at 8pm, Saturday December 2nd, at 8pm, and Sunday, December 3rd at 3pm with Peninsula Ballet Orchestra. The event will be held at the Bremerton Performing Arts Center, 1500 - 13th Street, Bremerton, WA.
Copyright 2000 The Giving Network, all rights reserved
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