In case you missed it, Sunday afternoon saw the return of The Singing Tortoise to the outreach repertoire.  The Singing Tortoise is Paul Vasterling’s first outreach ballet, choreographed in 1998.  If you’re one of the many people who have seen Ferdinand the Bull or Carnival of the Animals, you may be aware of the number of elements that make the ballets so fun for all ages.  In addition to the dancing, the music, costumes, and sets all play a role (so to speak).  When it first premiered, The Singing Tortoise didn’t have any sets, although it did have a wonderful percussion score and fun masks for the different characters.  So, in addition to bringing the ballet back, we have also added sets.  Look for the jungle, with all its dense foliage, and for the wall of masks, 3-dimensional representations of various animals heads.

There is also a message in this ballet, as there is in our other ballets geared towards a younger age group.  The tortoise sings these words:  “It is man who imposes himself upon things, not things which impose themselves upon man.”  The tortoise, who makes a deal with a man, who then breaks his promise and shares her secret, is asking us to be respectful of all creatures, in particular those over whom we have more power.  The message is half Golden Rule, half a warning not to abuse power or authority or superior strength.

The Singing Tortoise will never grow old, so long as that message continues to ring true in the world.

– EG

Nashville Ballet staff and dancers will be volunteering their time in several Metro schools, February 22-26th, by sharing their favorite children’s books with students Pre-K- 4th grade during Read Me Week 2010!

Each year, Nashville Ballet is pleased to participate in this valuable program. By sending staff and dancers to local schools including: Hattie Cotton Elem, Sylvan Park Elem, Smithson Craighead Academy, and more, we are able to share the importance of literacy with hundreds of students and help to create a life-long love for reading, writing, listening, and communicating!

Each of our Education and Community Engagement ballets is based on a classic piece of children’s literature and helps students gain a greater understanding of prose, poetry, and drama through the power of physical expression!

Being a part of Read Me Week is a joy for our staff, as we get the opportunity to interact with the students we serve and is also a great way to help strengthen our connection between literacy and the arts!

The second semester curriculum guides are all ready to go and over 25 teachers representing 5 Residency Schools will be getting underway with their second semester ballet studies beginning Feb. 1st!

3rd and 4th grade students in Hattie Cotton, Inglewood, Glengarry, Smithson Craighead, and Sylvan Park schools will be doing a 9 week in-depth study of the newest children’s ballet, The Singing Tortoise this semester, culminating in seeing a school-wide performance of the Singing Tortoise in each of the schools in March.

Activities will include learning about the creation of the ballet, West African dance, different aspects of West African culture, drum-making, mask-making, rhythm and dance exercises, and much, much more.

This grant-funded program is helping to expose thousands of children to the art form of classical ballet, while integrating arts education into their weekly core curriculum. ”A Step Ahead” is an extensive year-long partnership with these schools and includes over 25 weekly lessons, interactive movement workshops with a Nashville Ballet teaching artist, free ballet programming, and more!