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Latina ballerinas

Usually, two Bakersfield sisters dance from one cultural holiday tradition right into another — first performing in “The Nutcracker” and then off to spend time in Mexico with family.

And though this year’s annual Christmas trip won’t happen because of an ill relative, this pair of Latina ballerinas will still dance their way through the classic ballet story that has charmed audiences for more than a century.

Since the first showing in 1892, Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker Ballet” has become an annual holiday tradition all over the world.

Bakersfield is no exception.

The Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra and Civic Dance Center are celebrating their 29th anniversary of performing the ballet together.

This year, sisters Victoria and Lauren Ornelaz will dance in the well-known-and-loved ballet that their family has incorporated into their own holiday tradition.

“It’s kind of a special time of year because it is sort of the beginning, it starts our holiday season for us,” said the girls’ father, Carl Ornelaz, 45. “After Thanksgiving, we get the house ready (for Christmas) and then Nutcracker starts almost a week or two after that.”

Of course, Christmas decorations in the Ornelaz household include a tree full of ballerina ornaments and nutcracker dolls of all shapes and sizes standing guard at various locations throughout.

Like most people, this family’s holiday traditions largely revolve around family. Extended members are drawn to Bakersfield from various locations throughout the country to watch the Ornelaz sisters dance and enjoy the Christmas season together.

Then, soon after the ballet performances are complete, they usually leave for Cerralvo, Mexico, taking a week to relax with their maternal grandparents who have retired in the town located in the state of Nuevo Leon. This year, the family will not be going because Carl’s mother is sick and in the hospital.

Dancing has become a family passion for the Ornalezes.

Carl helps out with props backstage at the show and runs Victoria to auditions when her artist agency calls. Meanwhile, Mom is also backstage to aid with the costuming and keeps track of her girls’ busy schedules.

“Both girls have always been hard workers. It takes a lot of dedication and you have to give up a lot to dance, in both your social life and your family life to be here,” said Ann McArthur, a teacher at Civic Dance Center. “Their family is always here to help. That support really helps because it is a family decision to say that it is OK they are spending this much time here.”

Perhaps the Ornelaz girls can also thank their family for the athletic and artistic genes passed down to them. Their grandfather and father were both decorated athletes; their grandmother is a painter; their uncle is a makeup artist in Hollywood; and an aunt was a professional folklorico dancer for a period of time.

Victoria, 15, has been dancing for 11 years and will be dancing the part of “Dream Clara,” a lead role in the ballet that features the magical world created during Clara’s slumber, revolving around her favorite Christmas gift that year — a nutcracker doll.

Lauren, 11, has been dancing for six years and will play a couple of different roles, including one of the party guests in the opening scene.

The girls have participated in “The Nutcracker” nearly every year that they have been dancing.

“I mean, they’ve been every part. Victoria started at little soldier and went through all those little parts to Dream Clara. Lauren is following in the same steps,” said the girls’ mother, Mabel Ornelaz, 47.

It was Victoria’s stage presence that won her the role of Dream Clara, according to McArthur who has had both Ornelaz sisters in her classes.

“When we do the audition process, we look at not only their ability to do the steps and footwork that Clara does, but also their stage presence and whether or not they can tell a story,” McArthur said. “That is really important because it’s not something we can teach.”

The girls agreed that they love “The Nutcracker” because they get to dance in front of an audience with live music provided by the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra — a rarity these days since many other ballet productions use prerecorded music as a way to save on production costs.

Both Victoria and Lauren can be found at the studio practicing anywhere from one and a half to four hours per day on weekdays. During Nutcracker and gala schedule, the girls also put in another six to seven hours on the weekend.

As the show draws near, practices are a flurry of dancers running around, changing costumes and getting into position.

The various dancers — from the wee ones to the young adults — all crowd into Civic Dance Center’s largest practice room, lining up along the edges of the longtime northwest Bakersfield dance studio. Proud parents gather outside to watch from the windows. 

On top of dance, Victoria is currently taking GATE and AP courses at Stockdale High School, while Lauren is involved in Oral Language Festival, science fair and pretty much anything else she can compete in at Christa McAuliffe School. Even with all that they have going on, both girls have been able to maintain straight A’s throughout their academic careers.

“I can’t imagine being like other kids and just staying home not doing anything,” Victoria said. “While it does go fast at times, it’s fun.”

Victoria wants to be a professional dancer and plans on attending a University of California school that has a dance program or the famous Juilliard School.

Lauren aspires to be just like her big sister, but also has dentistry in her career options. Since she was a small child, Lauren has been fascinated with the mouth and teeth. The family’s dentist allows her to observe from a tall chair as he works on her mom’s teeth.

In the world of ballet, both girls have graduated to “en pointe” in which they dance on the tips of their toes. En pointe requires special hard-toed shoes as well as considerable strength and skill. This graceful form of ballet can be very painful for some dancers.

Not so for the Ornalez sisters.

“A lot of my friends have a lot more sensitive feet than I do and they get a lot of blisters and stuff,” Victoria said. “Me and my sister are very fortunate.”

Just like in movies about ballet, the girls have seen fellow dancers walk out of rehearsals with bloody blisters and sore feet.

Mabel credits her daughters’ fortune to the people who fit their shoes — a task that has been a little bit trying when it comes to Victoria. Every time Victoria’s feet would grow, they had to go through a different brand of shoes.

“With Victoria we went through Repetto, Grishko, Russian Pointe, I mean we’ve been through almost all the brands of pointe shoes until it looks like Freed she’s pretty comfortable in. She never fit in the Capezio,” Mabel said.

Lauren, on the other hand, immediately fit into her first pair of Capezio shoes.
“The Capezio shoes I just got are really comfortable,” she said.

Occasionally, some dancers do get injured from falls or repeated stress on their legs.

A month ago, Victoria had a swollen knee. The teachers at the studio look out for the kids and injuries, Mabel said.

“They didn’t let her dance for about three weeks. Her understudy was doing all of the work for her,” she said. “It was hard for her to sit and watch. ... They’re performers and that’s what they want to do.”

It is in the best interest of the dance company for their dancers to be healthy and at their best, said McArthur.

“Some dancers don’t want to say anything because they don’t want to be on the side, but we teach them early on that it’s better to let their injuries heal and to be able to perform for the real show,” she said.

The transitions between scenes can be tough sometimes, depending on what roles they are playing each year. Costumes have to be changed quickly and hair redone to match a different character.

“I’ve had curls for one scene and then I’ve had to have a bun for another scene…It’s very hard in between, but then when you get back on stage you forget all about it and it’s fun,” Victoria said.

This year, Victoria doesn’t have any major changes. Lauren, on the other hand, has to go from a party guest to a Chinese dancer with hair swept up in two buns.

“The hair is a little sore afterward, but it’s very fun to just go through that experience,” Lauren said.

The girls will also be involved with special presentations of select scenes for local school children as part of the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra’s Young People’s Concert.

“It has become a tradition for a lot of people, and they look forward to seeing the dancers and their families,” McArthur said.