2008 Woodie Awards
Youth serves in UI Nutcracker
Meryn Fluker - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 12/14/07 Section: Arts
- Page 1 of 1
Candy-cane mochas, eggnog shakes, and disgusting fruit cake. The Christmas season is alive in Iowa City. Need more proof Santa's spirit is in the air? The UI will host two performances of The Nutcracker this weekend, featuring the UI's own Youth Ballet and Dance Forum.
The ballet, based on the book The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, by E.T.A. Hoffman, is a staple of the holiday season both in the United States and abroad. Those are big slippers to fill but Sarah Barragan, the artistic director of the UI Youth Ballet, said she's up to the challenge. As first-time director and producer of the ballet, she added some distinct elements to separate this interpretation from the others.
This is not the first year the group has performed The Nutcracker, but the group has not stopped improving the classic.
"The director of the Dance Forum when I came here five years ago, Janine Simmons, really had the vision of the ballet program," Dance Forum administrative director Kathryn Smith said. "She birthed the whole vision for [The Nutcracker], and it's just gotten bigger, better, and more beautiful every year."
Smith, or Miss Kathy, as her students call her, said the UI Dance Forum and Youth Ballet both serve as community outreach arms of the UI dance department.
A faculty choreographer participating in the performance is Sarah Barragan's husband, Eloy Barragan, who is no stranger to the story of a Sugar Plum Fairy and various candy treats.
"I have danced it a zillion times. Almost every single role, from Mother Ginger, to the Cavalier, to the Mouse King," said Eloy Barragan, a UI assistant professor of dance. "All Nutcrackers are beautiful. But this one, it has really raised up the physical and technical demands to the students. They have come up and really matched that."
Aside from contributing choreographers, the UI dance department is adding students to the production, creating a cast ranging in age from single-digits to baby boomers. Dancing with much older and experienced performers could be intimidating, but Youth Ballet student Melody Ferreira said she is more focused on having a good time and getting some tips from the other cast members.
"It was fun," said Melody, 9. "I learned from them to smile if you make a mistake. You don't just say 'Oops, I'm sorry.' You just keep going."
Eloy Barragan also noticed the students' effect on each other as it related to the age difference.
"Their interaction with the older kids is very fresh, but they have also learned respect," he said. "I think that they are feeding each other, the younger and the older [students]. They say, 'Look at them, they look great.' So OK, we must look great, too."
The students weren't the only ones who benefited from the production's large cross-section in ages.
"That influenced [my choreography] tremendously because they're very innocent," Eloy Barragan said. "They're fresh in their way of moving and they're very honest."
E-mail DI reporter Meryn Fluker at:
meryn-fluker@uiowa.edu
The ballet, based on the book The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, by E.T.A. Hoffman, is a staple of the holiday season both in the United States and abroad. Those are big slippers to fill but Sarah Barragan, the artistic director of the UI Youth Ballet, said she's up to the challenge. As first-time director and producer of the ballet, she added some distinct elements to separate this interpretation from the others.
This is not the first year the group has performed The Nutcracker, but the group has not stopped improving the classic.
"The director of the Dance Forum when I came here five years ago, Janine Simmons, really had the vision of the ballet program," Dance Forum administrative director Kathryn Smith said. "She birthed the whole vision for [The Nutcracker], and it's just gotten bigger, better, and more beautiful every year."
Smith, or Miss Kathy, as her students call her, said the UI Dance Forum and Youth Ballet both serve as community outreach arms of the UI dance department.
A faculty choreographer participating in the performance is Sarah Barragan's husband, Eloy Barragan, who is no stranger to the story of a Sugar Plum Fairy and various candy treats.
"I have danced it a zillion times. Almost every single role, from Mother Ginger, to the Cavalier, to the Mouse King," said Eloy Barragan, a UI assistant professor of dance. "All Nutcrackers are beautiful. But this one, it has really raised up the physical and technical demands to the students. They have come up and really matched that."
Aside from contributing choreographers, the UI dance department is adding students to the production, creating a cast ranging in age from single-digits to baby boomers. Dancing with much older and experienced performers could be intimidating, but Youth Ballet student Melody Ferreira said she is more focused on having a good time and getting some tips from the other cast members.
"It was fun," said Melody, 9. "I learned from them to smile if you make a mistake. You don't just say 'Oops, I'm sorry.' You just keep going."
Eloy Barragan also noticed the students' effect on each other as it related to the age difference.
"Their interaction with the older kids is very fresh, but they have also learned respect," he said. "I think that they are feeding each other, the younger and the older [students]. They say, 'Look at them, they look great.' So OK, we must look great, too."
The students weren't the only ones who benefited from the production's large cross-section in ages.
"That influenced [my choreography] tremendously because they're very innocent," Eloy Barragan said. "They're fresh in their way of moving and they're very honest."
E-mail DI reporter Meryn Fluker at:
meryn-fluker@uiowa.edu
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