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Dedicated to dance
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Monday, November 23, 2009 10:45 AM EST
Laingsburg High School freshman Jessica Smith poses with a nutcracker.
Kim Smith knew she had to enroll her daughter Jessica Smith in dance lessons after she took her to see “The Nutcracker” at Michigan State University's Wharton Center when she was very young.
After the curtains had closed on the ballet, Jessica and her sister got up onto the edge of the stage and began twirling, emulating the ballerinas they had just watched.
“That's when I knew I had to enroll her in dance,” Smith said. “They got a round of applause from the audience and everything.”
Now a freshman at Laingsburg High School, Jessica will be dancing her third performance of “The Nutcracker” at the Wharton Center next week, along with two other Laingsburg students and about 45 others involved in the Children's Ballet Theatre of Michigan.
Last year, Jessica even got to star as Clara, a role she can remember admiring when she watched the ballet as a child.
Now the roles are reversed.
“Little girls came up afterward and asked for my autograph,” Jessica said. “It was a lot of fun being Clara.”
This year Jessica has roles as a towns-person, a mouse, angel, ice princess and in the waltz.
Laingsburg High School junior Lea-Janell Mitchell and Laingsburg Elementary fifth-grader Meredith Bolton are also dancing in the ballet. Lea for her sixth time and Meredith for her second.
The CBT performs “The Nutcracker” every fall.
“When I first started I thought it might be monotonous doing the same thing every year,” Lea said. “But it's really different every year.”
The girls said CBT artistic director Gregory M. George goes out of his way to make the ballet unique each year.
“Greg gives us different parts each year,” Jessica said.
Lea said she loves throwing herself into her roles each year.
“I can put myself into the character,” she said. “Last year, I was the Rat King, so I got to be all evil and ratty. This year, I am Mrs. Stalbaum and I have to be all proper and motherly.”
Meredith said her favorite part about being involved in CBT is getting close to her fellow dancers.
“I just like having fun,” she said.
When she joined the group last year, she said it was intimidating because everyone was so close to each other, but she said they accepted her right away.
“I walked in and a group of girls walked right up to me and said, ‘Hi, are you new?'” Meredith said.
From there, she was part of the “family.”
“It sound cheesy, but we're all like a big family,” Jessica said.
Lea agreed.
“When you spend so much time together, you get to know each other pretty well,” she said.
Just how much time do they spend dancing?
“I counted it up and I dance about 24 hours a week,” Jessica said, adding that was between CBT, dance classes at other studios and the time she spends as an assistant dance teacher.
Lea also estimates it to be somewhere in the 20-hours-a-week range.
But they all agreed that the outcome is worth the time.
“If it wasn't fun it wouldn't be worth it,” Lea said.
And dancing on the stage at the Wharton Center is fun, she added.
“The first time I loved it,” Lea said. “It's so big, it makes you feel so small, but it really allows you to do a lot more.”
Jessica said her nerves get the best of her before each performance on the stage.
“But once you get out there and you're with your friends, they go away,” she said. “It's really cool being on stage there because so many famous people have performed there.”
This year, the CBT has invited three kids from the Children's Miracle Network to dance on stage with them during “The Nutcracker,” one of which is another Laingsburg student, Laurel Briggs.
Volunteers from the CBT will also be collecting money for the charity during each performance.
Kim Smith said it is amazing to see the Miracle Network children out on stage with the group.
“It's really heartwarming to see these kids out there having fun,” she said.
Jessica agreed.
“They seem to have a lot of fun with it.”
Jessica, Lea and Meredith, along with the CBT and the group from the Children's Miracle Network, will be performing at the Wharton Center at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 27-28 and at 2 p.m. Nov. 29.
Tickets start at $12.50 and are available at www.whartoncenter.com or by phone at 1-800-WHARTON.
Comment on this Story
Really wrote on Nov 23, 2009 3:19 PM:
I have hard time believing that you honestly think that this girl in a dancing costume is even close to the same thing as P O R N. If you are that desperate to look at p o r n in public and are that upset by it you should seek some couseling, or subscribe to a magazine! That way you can enjoy it in the privacy of your own home without children being exposed to it in a public setting!
GET A LIFE! "
ME wrote on Nov 27, 2009 12:12 PM: