When the lights dim at the Wharton Center this weekend for The Nutcracker, and ballerinas fill the stage, joining them will be a few unexpected faces: three local girls with disabilities.

"These are children who could not just walk into a dance studio and sign up for a dance class and say, 'I want to take a ballet class or a theatre class,'" says Nadine Methner, who's on the board of the Children's Ballet Theatre of Michigan.

12-year-olds Katie Frayer, from DeWitt, and Laurel Briggs, from Laingsburg, and 8-year-old Caroline Thomas, of Lansing, three girls who may never twirl or plie are making a huge leap, and dancing along with the Children's Ballet Theatre of Michigan.

"We wanted to do something for the community to give back," Methner says. "We wanted to do draw some attention for Children's Miracle Network and the girls here in our company have been trying to do some fund raising."

All three girls get help from CMN and receive treatment at Sparrow Hospital. They've been practicing for The Nutcracker for about three months -- a story with some special significance.

"The Nutcracker story is about a young girl who has a dream and her dream is to be with the nutcracker and to dance," Methner explains. "And so the parallel is with these kids who have physical disabilities, who wouldn't be able to dance on stage, and we're making their dream come true just like Clara's."

Methner also works at Sparrow, and is the mother of one of the ballet company's dancers. She says sharing the stage with these first-time performers has done some good for the company dancers, too.

"It's shown them that we all have challenges in life, and that we have different challenges," she says. "And seeing these girls just shows you that you can persevere, you can work hard, and you can do anything you want."

You can see The Nutcracker at the Wharton Center on Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm, and at 2pm on Sunday. For ticket information, click on the hot button.