Reaching and Teaching

Before I moved here I knew that Ballet Memphis made a solid effort to connect with the community, but I could never imagine the reward it would give me once I joined the effort. I took something away from each of the 10 Connections:Kids performances we put on, but I think our first outreach had the great affect on me. I remember the performance vividly. We were putting on a production for about 30 kids in the effort to educate them on the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Having never danced at a community center for such a young audience, I wasn't sure what to expect. However, once the bright-eyed elementary students walked in, their positive energy was contagious.

As the opening commercial played, I peeked around the screen to see the children's faces as Evan was dancing a kung-fu solo with a Pepsi commercial streaming behind him. I saw all their heads turning from the commercial back to the dancing, yelling with excitement whenever Evan jumped close to them. These kids were giving us all of their attention, so when the time came for me to perform to a Michael Jackson commercial with Elizabeth, (a fellow company member) I was ready to give all of that energy right back.

I didn't have to hold back around these kids, they were laughing and clapping as we wiggled our knees to the beat. At the end of the commercial, Karl Condon, Ballet Memphis' artistic director, told us to bring some of the kids onstage to dance with us. After we got a few kids up there, more were reaching out their hands for us to pull them on stage. I was so overwhelmed, I wanted to bring them all onstage. Two little girls then grabbed my hands and pulled me around while they hopped to the music. I couldn't help but smile.

The attention and interest the kids gave me was the most rewarding aspect of our outreach performances. That's what kept things exciting: a new type of audience and a new kind of reaction awaited us at each new community center. After almost every outreach, we would teach our audience a small dance to perform in front of their peers. The commitment the children had to picking up the choreography we presented gave me the ultimate satisfaction. I'm excited to see their reactions to contemporary ballet when we return to return to these community centers to perform in the spring. But most of all, I'm hoping some of the children feel inspired enough to perform for us so we can sit in the audience and cheer them on.

-- Carly Wheaton