On March 21st more than 30 children attended The Sleeping Beauty Dance-A-Story program at the Westport Library.
Dance-A-Story is a 45-minute workshop appropriate for Pre-K and early elementary school students, bringing stories to life through creative movement, music, and a costume show and tell. Kansas City Ballet’s Community Engagement and Education Program Teaching Artist Amelia Virtue led the workshop.
These educational events are a fun way to introduce even the littlest members of the community to ballet.
“Our Dance-A-Stories provide opportunities for very young children in and around the metro area to experience classic stories and fairy tales in a truly unique way,” says Community Engagement and Education Manager April Berry. “By bringing the magic of movement, music, and costumes/props from story ballets to community venues, this fun, interactive program provides another avenue to enhance literacy.”
Event Summary
Children enjoyed listening to The Sleeping Beauty ballet story and seeing costumes and examples of character’s props. [see top photo]
Then Ms. Virtue turned on some music and led the children to try pantomime to tell the story with succinct movements. Below she demonstrated when Princess Aurora fell asleep.
The boys and girls were even given a chance to try on the crowns worn by Princess Aurora and Prince Désiré.
For many of these children, this was their first experience with the art of ballet. But hopefully not their last!
Photography by Andrea Wilson.