There are almost two dozen professional ballet companies in
New York State, and most of them are in the New York City area, but we are
lucky to have one of these professional companies right here in Rochester.
When you think of the Rochester City Ballet (RCB), what
comes to mind? Their annual holiday production of The Nutcracker? Their frequent collaborations with the Rochester
Philharmonic Orchestra? Their kids’ programs, like The Ugly Duckling? The Draper Center for Dance Education? Whatever
visual you have, it likely does not include their community outreach programs. Part
of the RCB’s mission is to educate our community in the “beauty of the art of
dance.” In the introduction of Mary Kerner’s book, Barefoot to Balanchine, the author remarks: “ Dance is accessible
to everyone – and that means anyone. People danced long before they could talk.
Dance is a means of communication, a means of expression that is universal. You
don’t have to take a technique class to be able to feel the exuberance of the
leaping dancer or the sensuality of a man and a woman dancing together. Your
heart has all the information it needs. So do your muscles: they respond
kinesthetically to watching movement.” Just as you don’t need to have played
football to enjoy watching football, you needn’t have taken a dance class to
enjoy watching dance. But having an understanding of the history and techniques
of dance enhances appreciation of the art form, just as having an understanding
of the rules and positions of football helps you enjoy watching the game.
To that end, the RCB provides access to thousands of
Rochester City School children to dress rehearsals of their performances. They
also host free annual pre-Nutcracker
readings and demonstrations at Barnes & Noble bookstores, where audiences
can become familiar not just with the work itself, but also with some of the
dancers. There’s a special joy of meeting a dancer and then recognizing him or
her on stage.
The RCB has gone a step further, and is committed to
bringing dance to special needs students. During a regular performance,
audiences are usually quiet, with occasional involuntary gasps at a perfectly
executed leap (or a fall), or laughter at a joke (and yes, dance can have
humor). Applause is usually reserved for the ends of movements, or when a
dancer performs an unusual step particularly well. Otherwise, most audible
reactions are scorned at a traditional performance. The RCB recognizes that
special needs individuals cannot always control their responses, and, as one of
just a handful of ballet companies across the country, has created a safe space
in which they can watch a dance performance, and react naturally. At a recent sensory-friendly
performance of The Ugly Duckling at
Nazareth College, they deliberately turned the music down and the audience
lights up, because some of these children respond differently to stimuli,
making it difficult to sit still in the dark, or to maintain calm after hearing
a sudden loud noise.
This program also gives families of children with
disabilities the opportunity to experience a live performance without feeling
self-conscious, or worrying about disrupting other audience members. As Nicole
Gantshar, Executive Director, explained in a recent WXXI interview, “we call it
the performance where no one says ‘shush.’” Seating along the aisles is kept open,
and families are spaced so that the kids have fidget-room. These
sensory-friendly performances help fulfill RCB’s mission to make dance
accessible to everyone in our community.
And if you haven’t seen the RCB ballet perform since David
Palmer joined as the new Artistic Director in 2015, you will want to check them
out again, in their upcoming “Summer of Love” performances at the Auditorium
Theatre (April 20-23). I had the opportunity to get a preview of some of the movements
of this two-act contemporary ballet, set to songs like “Aquarius” and I was captivated,
and can’t wait to see the entire program.
For more information on the RCB, visit
rochestercityballet.org
To watch a short video about the Sensory Friendly program: https://www.artsinfocus.tv/tag/sensory-friendly
