CLOSER LOOK

“The Nutcracker,” Bonny Eagle High School, 700 Saco Road, Standish, Dec. 19 and 20, 7 p.m., $12.50-$15. Call 793-8925.

Tickets are also available online at www.nutcracker.synthasite.com, at the door and at the

following locations:

At Once All Agog, Limerick

Friendly River Music, Cornish

Good for All Pharmacy, Waterboro

Lakeside Market, Waterboro

Plummer’s Supermarket, Buxton

Ten-foot tall dragons and Japanese drumming aren’t typically associated with traditional performances of “The Nutcracker.” But not much of what the Ricardo family does is typical.

Situated unassumingly off Route 160 in Limerick, Ricardo’s Family Karate is an epicenter of creativity.

“This is my toy box,” Frank Ricardo, who runs the karate center, said of the studio filled with karate gear, swords, flags and musical instruments. Since September, it’s also been home to costumes, props and sets, as the Ricardo family takes on its first production of “The Nutcracker.”

According to Ricardo, with the downturn of the economy, many of the students in his karate school who also attended dance classes in the area were no longer able to afford to take dance. Though his children have participated in Ballet New England’s production of “The Nutcracker,” with the high price of gas this summer, the Ricardos thought driving to rehearsals in New Hampshire wouldn’t be feasible for them, either.

That’s when they decided to take on the show themselves.

“We put this together as a form of healing,” Ricardo said.

Ricardo’s version of the annual tradition is choreographed by his 18-year-old daughter Leilani, and features his other two children, Mia, 16, and Gino, 11. Mom, Heather, helps with the costumes.

“It’s a community production,” Leilani Ricardo said because it’s not just the Ricardos behind it. Entire families from around the area have given themselves – whether it’s as performers, sewers or set builders – to the show.

Some 50 performers hail from Hollis, Buxton, Waterboro, Limerick and beyond.

The cast, which is largely made up of students from the karate school, boasts nearly half male performers – something Ricardo said is extremely unusual for “The Nutcracker.”

What else is unusual about the cast is that most of it has no previous experience in ballet. According to Leilani Ricardo, it hasn’t hindered the quality of the performance at all.

“I’m very confident in the kids,” Leilani said. “I’m a little overwhelmed by how much they’re learning.”

She said children as young as 7 years old will show up for rehearsal at around noon and not leave until 11 p.m. And they’re not goofing off.

“They bring an endless amount of enthusiasm and energy,” she said.

Leilani’s dedication is equally as extraordinary. In between running rehearsals and teaching martial arts classes, she’s hard at work studying for her SATs and applying to colleges – one of the few ways her life is similar to that of an ordinary 18-year-old.

But unlike many high school seniors, Leilani, who was home-schooled, has plans that reach far beyond the application deadlines. After studying musical theater, dance and science in college, she said, she plans to get a doctorate in physical therapy and move to New York as quickly as possible to pursue a career as performer.

Starring in shows on Broadway and dancing with a premier company is a pipe dream for most people, but growing up at her family’s karate school in Limerick has given her a leg up. Frank Ricardo and his three children perform in museums and at colleges all over New England with their drum troupe, the Maine Thunder Spirits.

“We’re always working on the road,” said Gino Ricardo. “It’s fun seeing different places.”

But it’s hard for the Ricardo children to compare their lives to those of typical children their age, because performing and traveling is the only life they know.

Still, not being in school hasn’t hurt their social lives. Between people they meet on the road and students that come through the karate school, they’re constantly surrounded by their peers, and are often teaching them – something that Gino says gives him satisfaction.

“You feel good, because you know that they’re not sitting at home, eating potato chips and watching TV,” he said.

The production of “The Nutcracker” is no different. Though the original reason for putting on the show was to give local children who couldn’t afford to participate in dance schools a chance to perform, according to Leilani, the experience of being in the show means more than saving money. She’s seen the children transform before her eyes.

“It’s leaving more than a memory,” she said about the impression the ballet performance has made on the young children, who, she said, now count Baryshnikov among their role models.

“It’s something that’s going to last,” she said.

According to Frank Ricardo, the show, which incorporates everything from magic tricks to sword routines, should leave an indelible mark on the memories of its audience members, as well.

“It’s going to be the most interesting ‘Nutcracker’ in the history of New England,” he said.

Leilani Ricardo dances in rehearsal for the party scene in The Nutcracker. Ricardo choreographed the show, which will be performed at Bonny Eagle High School on Dec. 19 and 20.Meredith Paulding, 9, of Parsonsfield, Morgan Capener, 5, of Waterboro and Samuel Paulding, 7, of Parsonsfield rehearse their roles as rats in The Nutcracker.