Dancers Get Kinks Out in Rehearsal

The prince dropped Cinderella, and the Fairy God Mother’s minions missed their cue during the National Ballet of Cuba’s Tuesday morning dress rehearsal. But later that day, the opening performance of “Cinderella,” which continues through Sunday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, went off without a major hitch.

Among other sights and sounds gleaned from the wings during the troupe’s recent practice:

* Despite years of callus buildup, pros’ toes may still bleed while dancing en pointe. To cut down on friction, some dancers soften the toes of the pink satin lovelies by pounding them with a hammer. When the slippers get scuffed, they dab on flesh-colored makeup as concealer.

* Before they step into their costumes, female dancers who wear undies at all put them on over, not under, their tights to prevent a saggy crotch. Men address the droop by sewing thick strips of elastic onto the tights’ waistband to function like suspenders.

* Whispering onstage is common at dress rehearsal but forbidden during performance, so the dancers use a sign language of sorts. Darting one’s eyes to the left, for example, could mean “Move upstage, Oscar!”

* To conserve energy, dancers often “mark” or indicate each step during a rehearsal by doing only the accompanying arm movement. The Cubans danced full force for their dress, as it’s sometimes called, though the principals did mark the most physically demanding sequences.

* Ballerinas, those delicate creatures, speak ever so softly, right? Alihaydee Carreno, dancing the part of Cinderella, let go a bone-chilling screech when prince Osmay Molina lost his grip during a lift. (He caught her before her feet hit the floor.) Carreno and Molina are scheduled to reprise those roles in tonight’s performance of the ballet.