In this love story, Cupid was waiting in the wings of .
Three years ago this week, Annabelle Ip was stuck behind a huge timpani in an elevator at the Centre in Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»for the Performing Arts. The 32-inch drum was too big go through the stage doors so a plan was hatched to bring it up on the elevator and down the aisle of the theatre before gently dropping it through the opening of the orchestra pit, where shed play it as part of the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Metropolitan Orchestras live accompaniment to the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»ballet schools magical performance.
Ip got on the elevator, the timpani followed, the doors closed and... now what? How was she going to get off the elevator, she thought, feeling very much like a damsel in distress.
But when the elevator doors opened, a knight in shining armour was waiting for her. He was wearing black, actually, she says with a laugh.
Coming to her rescue was Michael Dirk, a professional musician who had been asked to help conduct a guest childrens choir at the end of the first act. As he freed Ip from the confines of the elevator, she recognized him from their days at UBC.
They chatted but then it was time to get to work. Ip followed her timpani into the orchestra pit where all she got to see of the performance was the bottom of the conductors baton and tiny little feathers wafting down from the dancers costumes every time they leapt across the stage. Dirk was on stage, hearing the music waft up from the orchestra.
It took a few months for this love story to heat up, though. Ip got distracted by the Olympics, and the exciting opportunity to be one of the musicians on stage in Whistler. Given their hectic schedules theyre both teachers with the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»School Board, have professional music careers and teach music it took a few months for Dirk to get her to commit to a day for their first date.
Fast forward to December 2011. Ip is an avid skier. Dirk is an avid dancer. Their deal is that he throws her into dance classes and she throws him down black diamond ski hills. Shed taken a salsa cruise with him and now it was his turn to be atop her favourite place in the world Whistler.
Ip pauses in the telling of this story to explain that she was never a girl who had dreams of getting married. The fluffy white dress, the walk down the aisle a wedding just wasnt a big thing for her.
So there they were at the top of Whistlers Sunset Boulevard, two years to the day after their last performance of The Nutcracker. When Dirk dropped down on one knee, her first thought was that hed broken his back, or at least broken something. Even when she saw him fumbling through his ski jacket and pulling out a small box, it simply didnt compute that anything was happening other than a medical emergency.
Buns for life? Dirk asked, using their code word for honeybun, and holding the ring up to her.
I looked at him, looked at the ring, looked at the situation and thought, Is his back okay? I was confused, she says. It came as a complete shock. Oh, I said, and just waited for the longest time.
So, do you accept, Dirk finally had to ask.
Oh, oh. Okay. Yeah, she responded not the most romantic of replies! (It was a complete airhead moment, she says with a laugh.)
The ring is not only symbolic of their love, but also a testament of how much detail each of them puts into everything they do. Dirk had told Goh Ballet that he was going to propose and they suggested he go to jewelers, a title sponsor of The Nutcracker. Together they designed a gorgeous ring with a trinity of diamonds a large diamond to represent the timpani, and then one diamond to represent each of them.
The story doesnt end there. From December 19 to 23, the couple is once again performing in Goh Ballets Nutcracker. Dirks dance instructor asked him if he wanted to be one of the dancers in the opening party scene and Dirk not only agreed, but said he already had the perfect partner.
Its an absolute thrill, he says, delighting in the opportunity to be part of an entirely different aspect of the performance. What I love about Goh Ballet is that they never underestimate a students potential. They rise to the expectation and then supersede it. They know what a privilege it is just to even be a part of it.
Since hes performed as a dancer before, hes not at all nervous. Ip is not as sanguine. But, he confidently reassures her, as long as I lead with the right steps, it will be fine.
Ip knows shell be as beguiled by whats going on on stage as the audience will be. I feel privileged to be in the midst of it, she says. Its nothing short of magical.
Goh Ballet will be joined by principal dancers with the New York Ballet in six performances of The Nutcracker, Dec. 19 to 23 at the Centre in Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»for Performing Arts. (Theres a 2pm matinee on Dec. 22.) For tickets and information go to .
