Creation Yields White House Visit

Pepa Chindemi Dodge had no idea two months ago, when she started designing an ornament for President Clinton’s Christmas tree, that she would be invited to see her creation hanging in the Blue Room of the White House.

“You cannot imagine what it is like to get a notice in the mail that says the President and Mrs. Clinton request your presence,” Dodge said as she prepared for today’s visit to the White House. “You just feel so big.”

Dodge, a native of Italy who lives in Corona del Mar, teaches dance at the Ballet Montmartre in Costa Mesa.

Ballet Montmartre is one of 300 ballet schools across the country that was asked to design a Christmas tree ornament depicting a scene from “The Nutcracker.”

Though Dodge has always made her living as a dancer, she said she also has training as a painter and was glad to help with the design.

She particularly likes drawing and painting flowers, so she created an ornament depicting the “Waltz of the Flowers.”

Made from silk, gold lace and real flower petals, the ornament is a 9-inch calla lily with a porcelain ballerina in the center of the flower.

Dodge spent two months designing the ornament, choosing the colors and fabrics and creating the perfect lily with cardboard.

The labor was worth it, she thought, because she admires President Clinton and considered it an honor to create something that would hang in his home.

“I love the president. I love the whole family,” said Dodge. “I don’t know much about politics, so I have to go by what I see and what I feel. President Clinton makes me feel comfortable and makes me want to listen.”

Stela Viorica, the owner of Ballet Montmartre who encouraged Dodge to make the ornament on behalf of the school, was scheduled to accompany her on her trip to the White House.