Ballet Theatre Company’s Behind the Curtain program will bring the magic of ‘The Nutcracker’ to schools.

Submitted

Calling all teachers and educators! In early December of 2021, Ballet Theatre Company (BTC) is offering its Behind the Curtain program featuring “The Nutcracker.” This highly adaptable program will expose your students to the joys of ballet and theater, and allow them to explore the realm of possibilities in the performing arts world. Bring some holiday fun into your classroom this year and help encourage the creative minds of the future!

In order to bring the magic of “The Nutcracker” to your school this winter, you will have the option to choose one, two, three, or all four of the following Behind the Curtain options: “The Nutcracker” Digital Storybook and Performing Arts Activity Workbook, “The Nutcracker” Digital Storybook and Academic Activity Workbook, “The Nutcracker” School Tour, or “The Nutcracker” abbreviated performance live stream.

Students will join Clara on her magical adventure as they flip through pages of professional photos from BTC’s 2019 production of “The Nutcracker” in BTC’s Digital Storybook. After reading about her journey to the Land of the Sweets, you can then explore the Performing Arts Activity Workbook in your classroom to further inspire creativity, problem-solving, and self-expression through over 30 pages of worksheets and guided class discussions. After completing the workbook, students will have a much deeper understanding of the layers of staging a production and will be exposed to the realm of possibilities in the performing arts world. For teachers looking for a more scholastic route, “The Nutcracker” Academic Activity Workbook integrates the magic of the performance into worksheets that practice essential academic skills and challenge students to think critically in relation to an exciting story.

Behind the Curtain offers a special treat for students through its in-person or virtual School Tours. Behind the Curtain’s School Tours include an all-exclusive behind-the-scenes experience of what it takes to mount a ballet production. School Tours include: performance excerpts from “The Nutcracker” performed by BTC’s company of professional dancers, choreographic workshops where students have the opportunity to learn choreography from “The Nutcracker” production, and an interactive demonstration introducing artistic and technical elements led by BTC’s Costume Designers, Ballet Mistress, Stage Manager, and Production Manager. Each tour will culminate with a live question-and-answer session including all of BTC’s professional artists. Based on COVID-19 restrictions and limitations in the 2021-2022 school year, BTC is willing to offer its Behind the Curtain School Tours live at your school or through a virtual platform.

BTC understands that adhering to COVID-19 safety protocols and planning out transportation, permission slips, and everything else that goes into a field trip can be especially challenging this time of year. That’s why BTC would like to bring its abbreviated school performance of “The Nutcracker” to YOU this season! This magical holiday performance will be offered via live stream at 10:00 am on December 10th for classrooms throughout the Greater Hartford area. “The Nutcracker” live stream is a wonderful pairing with the prepared classroom materials and a great way to continue to integrate the arts into  education.

BTC’s Outreach Administrator has developed the prepared materials for Behind the Curtain with the guidance of a third-fourth grade teacher in the Massachusetts Public School System and another professional with an MFA in Education, Theater, and History who helped to oversee the creation of the Digital Storybook and Activity Workbooks. The Activity Workbooks not only introduce children to the many elements behind staging a dance performance, but they also incorporate the practice of essential school skills in a fun and engaging manner!

Performing arts offer exciting experiences for school children and inspire the next generation of creative minds to dream and set goals, express themselves, work well with others, and so much more! If you are interested in this program for your classroom please reach out to BTC’s Outreach Administrator, Kyleigh Olivier at [email protected] to book your Behind the Curtain program today, or visit dancebtc.org for more information.

 BTC is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization and is supported in part by Connecticut Office of the Arts, Greater Hartford Arts Council, Ron and Nancy Compton, The Edward C. & Ann T. Roberts Foundation, Ensworth Charitable Trust, The Long Foundation, The Buchalter-Breslow Family, Connecticut Public, Cricket Press, Laurel Graphic Design, We-Ha.com, Beam & Barre, and Hearst Media Group, and Imperial Design & Upholstering.

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