Program exposes kids to the wonders of 'The Nutcracker'

Dec. 3--A trip to see "George Balanchine's The Nutcracker" at Stamford's Palace Theatre is a holiday rite of passage for many local children.

To former ballerina Denise Lewis, the holiday-themed ballet is also a chance to teach. Not just about the pageantry of the seasonal ballet, but reading, writing and the creative arts in general.

"There are so many things happening in the ballet that can be brought into the classroom that go beyond the pretty costumes and the classical music," says Lewis, a Shelton resident who for years danced principal roles in "The Nutcracker" for the New York City Ballet, including several appearances in Stamford. "There is the dance, of course, but there is the music, there is history, there are sets, there is a story of family being told."

Now retired from performance, Lewis arrived with her pointe shoes in hand at the International School at Rogers Magnet in Stamford to get fourth-graders ready for a journey to "The Nutcracker." Through an experimental teaching collaboration between the Stamford Center for the Arts and the Stamford Board of Education, she is using Balanchine's ballet for a series of classroom lessons based on the production.

The four-part course, "Explorations of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker," is being brought to local schoolchildren for the first time by the SCA.

Thousands of children in New York City have participated in the program, created by the education department of the New York City Ballet. It has been offered for several years to third- and fourth-graders in the city's five boroughs.

The arrival of the "Explorations" program here marks the first "very public effort" by the Stamford organization to expand its community outreach and education, notes Kenneth Wesler, executive director of the SCA.

"The Stamford schools are right in our backyard and we need to be in them," Wesler says. "We know, through documented research, that children who are exposed to the arts at a young age tend to do better in subjects like reading, writing and arithmetic. What better way to interest them in the arts then with something like 'The Nutcracker.' "

In Stamford, the program features Lewis in an off-stage role, calling on the Balanchine production as the basis for lessons on everything from essay- and poetry-writing to art and music appreciation.

As a culmination of the project, the students, their teachers and parents will attend a free, formal dress rehearsal of "The Nutcracker" at the Palace Theatre on Saturday, with the dancer serving as their pre- and post-event guide.

"It is much more powerful to see a ballet when you understand and appreciate what's gone into creating it," says Carol Bryan, director of education and outreach programs for the SCA.

Bryan, like Lewis, is an alumna of the School of American Ballet, the official school of the New York City Ballet, and is responsible for bringing the program to Stamford children. As a girl, Bryan danced every child role in Balanchine's "The Nutcracker," including the coveted role of Marie. She joined the SCA in August, her mission to expand its community presence, particularly in the schools, notes Wesler.

"When I asked the New York City Ballet if I could bring this to Stamford, they couldn't have been more gracious, excited and supportive," she says. "They are thrilled to see it benefit another community."

Rogers was a good fit for the trial program because of its International Baccalaureate program, which emphasizes a cross-cultural curriculum and serves a diverse student population. If it is deemed successful by school administrators, Bryan says the SCA would likely want to bring the program to other schools if it can find sponsors to underwrite its costs. "Right now, we are doing this on our own," she says. "To do it on a broader scale -- which we would love to do -- would require more support."

For this trial project, teachers at Rogers got in on the act, attending training at the New York City Ballet to help them incorporate the "Nutcracker"-inspired curriculum into their class work.

"We even had do to a little dance," says Steve Staley, a fourth-grade teacher at Rogers, who was quick to add it wasn't a solo. "Just something we could all learn and do as a group."

In the classroom, Lewis says she has been inspired by students who were "creative and engaged, eager and interested. It is working better than I could have imagined," she says.

For her first class, she devoted some of her time to discussing the grueling physical demands of dance, a lesson she directed a bit toward her more skeptical male students.

"I wanted the boys to see that is like a sport, Not this ... girly thing." She taught them how to partner and had a few boys hold her arms while she did classic moves, such as an arabesque. "And by the end, you could tell, they got it was serious, hard work."

In another session, she used the basis of the "Nutcracker" story -- one of a little girl who receives a magical gift from a visiting uncle -- as inspiration for a writing project. Using the topic "My Special Gift," she and the students talked about the meaning behind gifts they had received, then the children wrote short essays and drew pictures to illustrate them.

Jennifer Midy, 9, drew a Bratz doll and explained to Lewis why it was special. "I know, you probably think it's just a Bratz doll," Midy told her visiting teacher, "but it's special to me because my brother, Jean, gave it to me. He is away at college, I don't see him much and I miss him. He gave this to me so I won't miss him." Midy's classmate, George Osborne, 9, got an appreciative "ahhh" from Lewis when he told her his special gift was "when my parents tuck me in at night."

"Oh you really, really get what a gift is," says Lewis, "And that is something that is part of the 'Nutcracker' story."

Lewis ended her "special gift" lesson with a treat for the students: real children's "Nutcracker" costumes borrowed from backstage. "It is hard to get them out of the building because they are really precious and they don't like to let them out of their sight," she told her students. "And they are so special, that when the children wear them they are not allowed to sit or eat. So, you're pretty lucky."

Rogers teacher Siobhan Kilcoyne says she's appreciated the way the program has taken subjects such as art and music and connected them to her students' personal lives.

"Using the ballet to do that just brings a whole new element to them. It's a very fresh perspective," Kilcoyne says. "I think they are learning to appreciate that it is another way to communicate, and the program has helped them pick the ballet apart in a way; they are learning to understand all its different elements."

And there's a fringe benefit: "I think when they go now, they will be a much more appreciative audience."

Bryan says while making lifelong ballet lovers out of the Rogers students is not the program's goal, "We wouldn't mind if they come away loving it. And keep coming to 'The Nutcracker.' "

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Public performances of "George Balanchine's The Nutcracker" begin Saturday and continue through Dec. 17. Tickets cost $42 to $62 and available through Telecharge at 800-233-3123. Visit www.stamfordcenterforthearts.com.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Stamford Advocate, Conn.

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