Every Little Step of Every Little Gingersnap

0

Liane Weintraub has loved ballet since childhood.

As a teen, she danced in many productions. Just over a decade ago she founded Center Dance Arts, the main fundraising organization for the Los Angeles Music Center. And as chief executive and co-founder of Tasty Brand, a Calabasas manufacturer of organic snacks for kids, she has contributed mightily to local performing arts.

Weintraub, 42, will be facing a different kind of dance challenge this week, Dec. 3-5, when she volunteers as a gingersnap wrangler at the Malibu Civic Ballet’s annual rendition of the Nutcracker Ballet at Pepperdine University’s Smothers Theatre.

Her job: to safely shepherd 10 young dancers – “gingersnaps” – in and out of a hidden trap door in the enormous hoopskirt of Mother Ginger – who will be on stilts – for their dance in Act 2.

One of the little gingersnaps will be Weintraub’s own daughter, 6-year-old Ava.

“I have to get 10 little girls safely situated under the skirt and then out on stage,” Weintraub said. “There are security issues to think about.”

In the audience will be her husband, real estate developer Richard Weintraub, and their 4-year-old son, Cole, who won’t be dancing.

“His preference is hip-hop,” the snap wrangler said.

Western Front

Los Angeles Lakers legend Jerry West is happy to serve as an ambassador for the sport of basketball and the National Basketball Association. That’s why he was standing in front of Staples Center earlier this month promoting the beginning of NBA All-Star game balloting.

But don’t expect West to be in the stands at the game. He serves as executive director of the Northern Trust Open golf event at the Riviera Country Club and the All-Star game will take place at Staples on Sunday, Feb. 20 – the same weekend as his big golf event.

For that matter, he said, the All-Star game is much less competitive than it used to be.

“I don’t particularly care for the All-Star game,” said West, who was a 14-time All-Star during his playing days. “In fact, I don’t attend games anymore. I prefer to watch on television.”

Celluloid Namesake

When the film “Charlie Wilson’s War” came out three years ago, one local businessman had a keen interest in seeing it.

Charles Wilson, chairman of Trio Tech International, a Van Nuys semiconductor company, wanted to see how his namesake, the late Rep. Charlie Wilson of Texas, was portrayed. The film related the late congressman’s effort to set up a covert funding operation to Afghan guerillas during the Soviet occupation in the 1980s, and also presented Rep. Wilson as quite the ladies’ man.

The Van Nuys businessman said that many years ago, he spoke a couple times with the congressman and found him pleasant to deal with. He said he liked the way Wilson was portrayed in the movie.

Quipped Charles Wilson: “You know, I don’t quite have a way with the ladies like he had.”

Staff reporters David Haldane, David Nusbaum and Howard Fine contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by Editor Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].

No posts to display