My Experience with Connections:Kids

Joining Ballet Memphis this year as a trainee has given me so many opportunities to learn and grow. I was surprised and gratified to learn that those opportunities don't occur only in the ballet studio. Coming from Chicago, I received something of a crash course in understanding Memphis' neighborhoods, people and social dynamics through Connections:Kids.

I think it's safe to say that all of the members of Connections:Kids cast were a little dubious about traveling to some of Memphis' more unsavory neighborhoods to perform at community centers for inner-city children. We weren't sure how they would react to a group of obviously physically fit, fairly privileged teenagers and young adults telling them how to be healthy and what to eat.

Personally, I worried that the message our program was meant to communicate, about the benefits of proper nutrition and frequent exercise, would be a tough sell. i was worried that the kids wouldn't find anything to identify with in our performance or would be turned off by how different we seemed to be.

However, I was pleasantly surprised from the get-go by how enthusiastic our audiences were. From the start, the kids were fully engaged in our performance. The "oohs" and "aahs" were contagious as they watched Marcelino lift a girl above his head in a full-press lift. The kids were even more amazed by Bryn's multiple fouettes en pointe, and the fact that she wore her nose ring along with her tutu and pointe shoes was a source of amusement as well.

They clamoured to be part of our breakout groups after the show, where we taught them snippets of the choreography we had just performed. They kept coming back for more hugs, and they loved to show us their own dance moves. We even had a group of girls perform a fully formed routine that they had choreographed themselves, complete with counts and vocal accompaniment.

Connections:Kids may have been designed as a teaching tool for kids in underserved Memphis communities, but it taught our dancers something as well. I wasn't the only cast member less than thrilled to drive to neighborhoods in Memphis that prompt the warning "lock your doors and take all of your valuables inside with you." But at every single performance, we were greeted with appreciation and genuine excitement. Regardless of our perceived socioeconomic differences, the kids truly made the effort to connect to us as dancers and to the work we performed.

We had one performance in a center where a child had been shot and killed in the community a few days prior, and our audience was dramatically reduced because most of the children were attending the boy's funeral. Despite the somber circumstances, the center's director went on about how grateful he was that we had brought our art to share with his kids. I couldn't help but gain a little perspective from this experience.

What we do as dancers can't change the realities of everyday life. Many kids in Memphis will be lucky if their families have enough money to buy fresh fruits and vegetables every week, and the only exercise they might get will be in a gym or schoolyard. Some can't afford a ballet lesson, let alone a pair of pointe shoes. I know it sounds corny and maybe even self-congratulatory to say that sometimes the most we can do is inspire them.

But I have to say that with the kids I met during Connections:Kids, the inspiration was a two-way street. They greeted us with open hearts, full of affection, energy and eagerness to learn, and as a performer, you can't ask for a better audience than that.

-- Elizabeth Mensah

My Memphis Story

It's the week of Thanksgiving, and as always, it's a time to reflect on the things in our lives that we may take for granted any other week of the year. This year, I can't help but be grateful that I'm in Memphis. It's been at the front of my mind during my commute to work each morning as I've passed the beautiful trees dressed in the vibrant colors this season has brought. I think it has been an exceptionally lovely autumn and has made me appreciate the beauty of my hometown more than usual.

This city is special to me and I am blessed to call it my home. Not many dancers are as fortunate as I am to have been born in a city with such a fabulous ballet company. When my parents enrolled me at Ballet Memphis (then Memphis Concert Ballet) as a 5-year-old, I'm sure they had no idea that their choice of ballet schools would basically design the course of my life. I loved growing up in the school and all the opportunities that came along with being a Ballet Memphis student. I remember watching and admiring the professional dancers.

As a Junior Company member, I got to dance with the company in many of their mainstage productions. I'm sure had I not loved every second of those experiences, I wouldn't have chosen to become a professional dancer. As a junior at White Station High School, I knew that I wanted to dance professionally, but not just with any company. I wanted to be a part of the company I had grown up adoring. I remember discussing with my parents that I could try it for a year and if it wasn't for me, I could always go to college and choose a different path. That first trial year as a 17-year-old apprentice was followed by six additional years that seemed to fly by.

I spent 2008-2009 with The Trey McIntyre Project, but following that year, I came home to Memphis to heal a shin fracture. After taking a year off from ballet completely, I returned to Ballet Memphis and felt more at home than ever. The two years away from this company, made it so evident to me where my heart wanted to be. I am so deeply connected to this city and this ballet company. I feel that they both have greatly formed important parts of my identity.

Now, as I'm in the middle of my ninth season with the company, I love running into people that I went to high school with or other girls that I grew up with in the Junior Company who have since gone in different directions. Just this morning, while having brunch at Brother Juniper's, I ran into an old friend, reminding me that Memphis is just a very big small town. I love that I have a history here with family and friends. I've always thought it a great privilege to dance for people I know and who know me. With Nutcracker just a couple of weeks away, I'm remembering my Saturday evening show last year, where so many of my friends and family were at the Orpheum to see me perform as the Sugar Plum Fairy. I think I had nearly 70 people in the audience! It was a magical night, but I always feel a bond with our Memphis audience because I've been performing here for so long now.

I am so thankful to call Memphis home. And I'm equally grateful to have found such a wonderful home with Ballet Memphis. What better time to ponder all of this than during Thanksgiving. I hope everyone enjoys the holiday this week and will take a few moments to think about all the wonderful things our city has to offer, especially Ballet Memphis. See you all at Nutcracker.

-- Virginia Pilgrim

Nutcracker in Today's Society

Recently, a large headline in The Commercial Appeal jumped out at me:

NEW RESEARCH FINDS PEACE BREAKING OUT IN THE WORLD

Honestly, how many times has any headline news been so wonderful? It reminded me of one of the reasons why we might see far more dismaying items about humanity than we do hopeful ones. I recently saw a study showing that human beings are more drawn to sorrow than happiness. We look for sadness, or for fear and anger. This may be because for so many thousands of years we had to protect our caves and our grains and our children from marauders of some kind. But, if the trends the research cited in this recent article continue, we may soon find that we are, as a species, choosing hope over cynicism, creativity over destruction, and love over the violence and discord our fears can engender.

I truly believe that when you choose to attend something beautiful, excellent and idealistic, as you do when you buy a Ballet Memphis Nutcracker ticket, you are coming down on the side of peace, hope and optimism. If there ever was a story that celebrates the capacity of our innocent childlike nature to triumph, to imagine a beautiful world where dreams come true, it is in this ballet. The world of giving, of sharing, starts at the beginning of the story when Clara is given her party dress, and it goes on until the curtain descends. A lovely party is given for friends and family. Gifts are passed out to all the children. A fallen rose is passed on to a shy teenage girl. Gingerbread cookies are available to each departing guest. And when the Nutcracker is broken, he is given care by Herr Drosselmeyer's bandaging him, and of course, by even more of Clara's love.

And when Clara is given a struggle to overcome in the Battle Scene, she does so, and then journeys to a more perfect world, where all await to dance their particular culture’s dance in gratitude for the young child’s bravery, and celebrating her affection for her Nutcracker. Weapons have been cast aside in favor of dancing, frankly. If that isn’t looking forward to better, more peaceful times, what is?

In this wonderful time of the year when many people of many faiths gather their loved ones together, Ballet Memphis is honored that you chose our Nutcracker as a place to experience these moments of hope, of peace, of delight, of real human beauty. We would love for you to gather with us elsewhere as well, in the rest of our professional company’s performances this season, in our nurturing Ballet Memphis School and our excellent STOTT PILATES® classes, in support of our reach into the community with our Stax mentoring, Youth Villages work, Dance Avenue programs in the public schools, and our childhood obesity dance program with community centers.

When you leave this theatre, we hope you will return throughout the year to the feelings you brought here and left with, when you stopped to choose what is hopeful about human beings giving joyfully to one another, so that the peace of this season will continue to grow and spread in our lives and throughout the world.

-- Dorothy Gunther Pugh

Nutcracker: Through the Years

Being a part of Ballet Memphis’s production of Nutcracker is one of the best experiences that I have ever had. Auditioning is just step one of the process. For me, auditions are nerve-wracking yet very exhilarating; year after year I audition, but each time it is just as difficult. When I walk into an audition hundreds of thoughts rush through my mind all at once. I hear thoughts telling me to relax or focus, while at the same time I am asking myself if am I doing my best and is my best good enough? I personally believe that auditions are the hardest part of a production process.

Step two: Cast list. Waiting for the email or waiting to see the cast list takes patience. The day that I finally see the email notifying me of my role in Nutcracker is always an exciting day. Although it is a disappointment if I do not get the role I want, I have realized that it is an honor to be a part of the production, and every role is important. The roles that I have received in the Nutcracker have been polichinelle, soldier, party girl, supernumerary, and this year, angel. Although the role of angel seems to be a promising new favorite, I would have to say that being in the party scene has been my favorite thus far. In the party scene, some of the boys and girls are privileged to dance with the company members and interact with them. Something that makes Ballet Memphis so special is the relationship between the company dancers and the students. Being in a production in which there is an opportunity to dance with the professional company is incredible.

The rehearsal process, step three, is one of my favorite phases in producing a show. I love seeing the growth and development that occurs over the course of a couple of months. Step four: performance time. Before a performance, the Junior Company takes warm-up classes backstage. The warm-up classes put us all in the Christmas spirit as we dance to various Christmas classics and attempt the fun yet challenging combinations that go along with the music. The dressing rooms are always full of laughter and enthusiasm. Some dancers sing along to Nutcracker music while helping others with their hair, make-up or costumes. For many of us, we thoroughly enjoy the student performances, hearing Mr. Condon interact with the students each year before the show reminding them of the ballet etiquette in a fun manner. I love to watch from the wings because you get to see the show from a different perspective, and being a dancer you notice things that the audience might not be able to see or recognize. Performing on stage in the Orpheum and seeing the entire show put together is very rewarding. The last performance always brings bittersweet emotions, and everyone is trying to make it his or her best performance. While some know that they will not be back until the following year, others realize that this is their last opportunity to perform Nutcracker on the Orpheum stage.

-- Mollie Marshall
Mollie, a 9th grader at Hutchison, is in her third year with the Junior Company. She's been with Ballet Memphis since she was little, and is currently in Ballet 8, the top level. This year will be Mollie's fifth year to perform in Ballet Memphis' Nutcracker.