NYC School Students Stage ‘Nutcracker’ in One Day

During Ballet in a Day, kids learn the dances and other moves in the morning, run through the program without costumes, eat lunch, then hit the stage (or in this case, the gym floor).

Professional ballet dancer Andrei Kisselev jumps in front of children at the Haven Academy Charter School during an event led by Kisselev and another dancer. The students learn the ballet in the morning and perform it with the professional dancers in the afternoon in front of siblings and parents. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

NEW YORK—Dozens of kids dressed in a variety of colorful costumes sat on the gymnasium floor listening to Sondra Forsyth tell the story of the “Nutcracker” on Dec. 6.

Parents stood nearby; others filled the wooden bleacher seats.

Then Forsyth finished the tale and the show began.

The kids, in groups, stood up and danced, sashayed, and moved to the music while following the lead of professional dancers Cierra Cotton and Andrei Kisselev.

For the next hour or so the students at Haven Academy Charter School, ages 5 through 8, performed nine scenes.

Cotton and Kisselev and seven other professional artists work with Forsyth and her nonprofit Ballet Ambassadors to bring art to schools where it might not otherwise be seen.

“Many, many schools are pressed for money and time, and they can’t get the arts in because of testing and all the demands,” said Forsyth after the performance. The organization leads Ballet in a Day, where kids learn the dances and other moves in the morning, run through the program without costumes, eat lunch, then hit the stage (or in this case, the gym floor).