Two Kids and a Grown-Up Play Key Role of Clara's Annoying Brother Fritz in Three Local

Two kids and a grown-up play key role of Clara's annoying brother Fritz in three local 'Nutcrackers'

By Valerie Scher
CLASSICAL MUSIC CRITIC

December 11, 2006

It's “Nutcracker” time, the season for ballet's Tchaikovsky-based holiday classic. While nearly everyone knows Clara – she is, after all, the heroine – the smaller part of her bratty brother Fritz is undeniably pivotal to the story. By breaking Clara's new nutcracker doll during Act One's Christmas party, he helps set in motion the elaborate fantasies that make the ballet a beloved treat with chills and thrills.

Choreography varies from production to production. And as San Diego's three leading “Nutcrackers” demonstrate, Fritz can be portrayed by a professional dancer (as at City Ballet of San Diego) or by youngsters (as at California Ballet and San Diego Ballet).

So take a bow, gentlemen. And tell us about yourselves.

AUBREY PALHEGYI

Company: California Ballet

Fritz Bits: First season in role

AKA: Fifth-grader at El Cajon's Holy Trinity School.

For the grandson of California Ballet founding director Maxine Mahon and son of ballet school director Clarissa Palhegyi, performing in “The Nutcracker” is as much a part of the holiday season as opening presents.

He's in his fourth year in the company's largest annual production, topping three years as one of the boys in the party scene with his first portrayal of Fritz.

“Fritz is the main boy. You get to do a lot of fun stuff,” says Aubrey, who will alternate in the role with Jon Kraus during downtown's Civic Theatre engagement. “I really like dancing – it feels good.”

But don't expect this blond, blue-eyed youngster with braces to become a professional dancer. Or take over the company one day.

Aubrey's interests extend far beyond the family dance dynasty that includes his great-grandmother, Flora Jennings Small, now 94.

“I want to be an archaeologist or architect when I grow up,” he says.

In the meantime, “Nutcracker” rehearsals and dance classes are simply part of a busy routine that includes soccer, football, swim team, student council, school choir and piano lessons.

Aubrey also enjoys composing what he describes as “slow, sad, emotional music” at the El Cajon home he shares with his father, motorcycle designer Jeff Palhegyi, his mother Clarissa (with whom he sometimes takes dance classes) and younger brother Lane, 7, who's one of the guests in “The Nutcracker's” festive party scene.

Learning Fritz's part involved new challenges, such as leading the boys' rowdy outbursts, playing a prominent part in a courtly dance, and breaking Clara's nutcracker doll.

“I do a lot of spins after I grab it,” he explains. “Then I drop it. It's fun to smash something if you don't get in trouble.”

COLE VAN DEN HELDER

Age: 8

Company: San Diego Ballet

Fritz Bits: Second season in role

AKA: Third-grader at Ocean Beach's Sunset View Elementary School

When you ask van den Helder what made him want to perform in “The Nutcracker,” his eyes sparkle, and a big smile graces his cherubic face.

“I thought it would be great to chase girls with fake plastic rats,” he says.

That's one of the perks of San Diego Ballet's version, where Franz and the other boys gleefully flaunt their naughtiness in the first act's Christmas party scene. He also likes the part where he kicks and squirms while being picked up and reprimanded for his behavior.

“It's like flying,” says van den Helder, whose older sister Margo, 10, portrays characters ranging from a soldier to a Gummy bear.

A “Nutcracker” regular since 2003, he progressed from being a mechanical doll, sheep and party guest to serving as the production's only Fritz, winning the role by audition. Having performed the part last year, he's feeling confident about his second season's upcoming performances at UCSD's Mandeville Auditorium.

His defining moment is breaking the nutcracker. Or, at least, pretending to do so.

“I set it down and step in front of it so it only looks like I break it,” he says of the carefully rehearsed stage illusion.

More than intricate dancing, San Diego Ballet's Fritz will showcase the acting and stage presence of the young performer and model who auditions from time to time for TV and print commercials. Home is Point Loma, where he lives with his sister and their parents – mom Wendy, a homemaker, and Dutch-born dad Theo, an anesthesiologist.

Though the youngest van den Helder would also like to be an anesthesiologist one day (“you learn about the body and what medicines are right”), he has enjoyed dance ever since he first watched his sister's classes several years ago at San Diego Ballet's Linda Vista studio.

Juggling a schedule that includes karate classes, soccer games and piano lessons, he nevertheless finds time for rehearsals and performances by the ballet company headed by Robin Sherertz Morgan and Javier Velasco. He plans to audition for Fritz again next year, then perhaps move on to other roles.

“I want to be in 'The Nutcracker' for a long time,” he says.

DANIEL SALVADOR

Age: 24

Company: City Ballet of San Diego

Fritz bits: Second season in role

AKA: Company member and teacher at the company's school.

'I give Fritz a real personality,” says Salvador, who prizes energy and mischievous intensity in his portrayal. “You definitely notice him.”

When meeting Salvador, you also notice that he isn't a child but a grown-up dancer with a boyish face and wide grin. Trained at Seattle's highly regarded Pacific Northwest Ballet School, the agile performer is now in his second season at City Ballet, where youngsters from the company's school also appear in “The Nutcracker.”

“I see Fritz as a typical boy, causing problems,” says the South Park resident. “He's spoiled and feels neglected when Clara gets a lot of attention. He treats the nutcracker like an enemy.”

City Ballet's “Nutcracker” at downtown's Spreckels Theatre is particularly demanding for Salvador, because in addition to Fritz, he'll appear in the “Waltz of the Flowers,” assorted character dances and even as the aggressive Mouse King.

“It's tough at first, but your body adapts,” says Salvador. “When you're doing a lot of roles, you get into really good shape, and the shows go by fast.”

Born in Spokane, Wash., and reared in Riverside, the son of a volunteer center director and now-retired Air Force master sergeant made up his own little dances as a child. It wasn't until he was 15 that he had a transformative experience, serving as a dancing baseball player in his high school's production of the musical “Damn Yankees.”

“My mom almost had a heart attack when I told her I wanted to be a dancer,” recalls the former honors student who was also a member of his school's dance team. “She wanted me to go to college.”

Instead, the teenager concentrated on dance (“I was taking ballet classes with kids who had been dancing since they were 5, but I caught up fast”). He never worried about being a male dancer in a society that's not always supportive of such pursuits (“do what you love – that's my motto”).

After studying at Pacific Northwest Ballet's school, and performing in some of its productions, he danced with Irvine's Ballet Pacifica and Montclair's Inland Pacific Ballet before joining Steven and Elizabeth Wistrich's City Ballet, where his roles range from Peter in “Peter and the Wolf” to Papageno in “The Magic Flute.”

Salvador is also a ballet and jazz instructor at the company's Pacific Beach school.

“This is my first year teaching, and it has been a really cool experience,” he says. “I love the kids. And it feels like only yesterday that I was a student.”