Whether it’s a favorite holiday recipe, sledding on Art Hill or just spending time with family, there are certain things that make winter a special season. For thousands of St. Louisans, it wouldn’t be the holidays without Saint Louis Ballet’s annual production of The Nutcracker. The ballet is dedicated to ensuring the magic of live performance is accessible to as many people as possible. As part of that mission, it launched Pointe to Succeed, a program that offers students a glimpse into the world of professional ballet—including special free performances of The Nutcracker every holiday season. T&S spoke with Cici Houston, the ballet’s director of education and outreach, to learn more.
We launched the initiative in our 2015-2016 season. The goal was twofold. One, to help educate future audiences so they feel comfortable and welcome going to live performances. Two, to teach the next generation of dancers and increase diversity in ballet. It’s a historically European artform, and it doesn’t always reflect society and culture today. A lot of youth may not be able to see themselves in that world, either as audience or performer, if they don’t learn about it first.
Why is it important to introduce children to ballet?
Every human being can benefit from ballet. It offers a world of beauty and sensitivity. For children, the art of non-verbal communication is extremely valuable. It also introduces them to a world of discipline and helps raise their self esteem. No one can do ballet for you. They have to work to accomplish it. It’s also invaluable for them as audience members.
How does the program make ballet accessible?
We offer field trips to see The Nutcracker: A Shorter Tale, a shorter performance with a narrator. It helps kids understand the story. We provide tickets and transportation to Title I schools. We also offer discounted tickets for other field trips. Due to the pandemic, many of the youngest students have not experienced live theater. Last year, a child asked me if the people on stage were real. They weren’t sure if they were watching a movie screen. I explained that the dancers were in the room with them, and I could see the wheels turning in their head. The excitement of live performance is palpable, especially for this generation which has been educated so much virtually.
Other than performances, how does Pointe to Succeed connect kids to ballet?
Prior to the pandemic, we offered a comprehensive experience by visiting schools before performances. Dancers would read books in character for special storytimes, and we’d have interactive presentations where kids got to see and try ballet themselves. Due to COVID-19, we had to pivot. Right now, we have two different ways to augment the performances. There are online resources for teachers like workbooks and ballet videos to teach students about the lives of dancers, how to be good audience members and more. We also offer streams of performances. Any school can register to watch them for free. Currently, we have The Nutcracker and Alice in Wonderland. We hope to add more.
What are Pointe to Succeed’s greatest needs?
Right now, the largest impediment for schools is the rising cost of transportation. The costs have multiplied by about 600%. We also would like to resume classroom visits and interactive seminars. We need to be able to hire designated staff, including technical support to ensure our dancers have a safe surface to perform on at schools. We use the program to scout for scholarship students for our ballet school. However, finding transportation to Chesterfield has been difficult for many kids.
For more information, visit stlouisballet.org/pointetosucceed.
Photos: Kelly Pratt courtesy of Saint Louis Ballet