Sugarplum fairies were dancing this weekend, but they were more than mere visions dancing through anyone's head.

Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, Yvonne DeKay School of Dance presented "Santa's Version of the Nutcracker Ballet" and "The Nativity". Proceeds from the production went to the Ironton High School Band Boosters.

DeKay wrote the ballet's script herself, which she said was from Santa Claus' point of view, and more similar to the Russian version than the American. One of the main characters in the Russian version is a diplomat, and it makes more sense when other characters from different countries and of different ethnicities appear, she said.

After seeing a picture of Santa Claus dancing through the air on the cover of a magazine, DeKay said she then had the idea of having Santa dream of the children he visits around the world and thinking about how the Nutcracker ballet has become just as popular as he has.

DeKay did not take credit for writing "The Nativity."

"God wrote that," she said. "I wanted to remember that this is our savior's birthday."

Ironton Band Boosters President Jeff Massie said the band has never had a fundraising event like this one at Christmas, and he was quite surprised that so many attended Saturday night even though there was a basketball game, cold weather and the threat of snow.

Fourteen-year-old Ironton resident Emily Carey played the Sugarplum Fairy, the character that leads Santa through his dream.

"I love dancing," she said. "I don't usually get nervous, but I get nervous when I perform."

Thirteen-year-old Ironton resident Madison Vogelsong has been dancing since she was two.

"I'm kind of shy, so this is the only way I can really express myself," she said after putting the finishing touches on her Snowflake outfit. "It's been really fun because I have a lot of friends in dance. I'm not into sports, so this is what I do."

Seventeen-year old Kathryn Davis, a.k.a. "Mother Ginger", was surrounded by an army of her young Polichinelles hugging her yelling, "Mommy!"

"The younger girls look up to us," the Ashland, Ky., resident said. "They follow our example. They've all worked very hard even when it was 'cram time' when we would have rehearsal every day."

"Mother Ginger is an older, silly lady that blows kisses at the crowd," she continued. "We're pretty similar. I'm pretty goofy, and this is a chance for me to be goofier."