Makaroff Youth Ballet Receives Fox Valley Community Arts Fund Grant

The Makaroff Youth Ballet is pleased to announce that it has received a grant from the Fox Valley Community Arts Fund to help offset costs associated with it's spring concert "Divergence".

The $2,500 grant will help to cover technical and venue costs associated with the concert on May 21 and 22 at the UW-Fox Valley James Perry Theater.  The Arts Fund is a field of interest fund within the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, the Wisconsin Arts Board and the Doug and Carla Salmon Foundation.

"The Makaroff Youth Ballet is very grateful for this generous grant to help us continue to bring high quality ballet performance to the community," said Linda Drezdzon, Makaroff Youth Ballet executive director.

 

Makaroff Youth Ballet ready to dance into a holiday tale

 

By Kara Patterson • Post-Crescent staff writer • November 28, 2010

Some years ago, a young dancer brought Jeanette Makaroff the children’s book “The Story of Holly & Ivy” to read.

Makaroff, the artistic director of Makaroff Youth Ballet, started thinking about how she could adapt the British tale by Rumer Godden for the ballet stage.

“It’s about a little orphaned girl named Ivy and she has a Christmas wish …,” Makaroff said. “At Christmas the orphans go to stay with host families. Ivy insists she has a grandmother and so she gets off the train when the train passes a (British) town called Appleton. In this town of Appleton there is a toy store and she sees the doll, Holly, in the window and falls in love with the doll. I thought this book could very easily become a ballet. To find out the author had herself been a serious student of ballet… and then to find out the little girl believes her grandmother lives in Appleton, I thought this was kind of a sign that this was a story we just had to do.”

The ballet “The Story of Holly & Ivy,” with Makaroff’s choreography set to the music of American composer Elliott Carter, is the centerpiece of the Makaroff Youth Ballet’s 2010 holiday concert.

Performances begin at 1 and 7 p.m. Dec. 11 and 2 p.m. Dec. 12 in Stansbury Theatre at Lawrence University in downtown Appleton.

The Makaroff Youth Ballet, a nonprofit ballet company of 20-plus advanced dancers who typically range in age from 12 to 18, performs “The Nutcracker” every other winter because of its scope. The ballet company staged “The Nutcracker” last December at Lawrence.

This year’s concert features “The Story of Holly & Ivy” but also includes classical ballet and modern dance pieces set to traditional and modern holiday music. Live string music will accompany one classical ballet piece set to “Ave Maria.”

Harley Atkinson, who is the ballet company’s new associate artistic director, choreographed a piece to the music of Mannheim Steamroller and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

“It starts out and it is ballet, and then it turns into modern,” said Atkinson, 24. “They start with pointe shoes and they end up with no shoes. The pointe shoes (segment) is the soft, beautiful, peaceful part of the holiday and then the modern part is the excitement building, kind of the climax of the holiday. What I based it off of is, a couple years ago my sister gave birth to her daughter and I got to experience the first Christmas with children in my family. To me, that’s my favorite part of Christmas.”

“The Story of Holly & Ivy” is appealing in part because it is essentially three stories in one, Makaroff said.

“The wish of the doll Holly is that someone buy her. The wish of the orphaned girl Ivy is that someone out there loves her, and she wants to be adopted. And there’s the story of the police officer and his wife, and it’s the holiday and the wife is very sad because what is a holiday without children?”

Eighth grader Rachel Hyland, 13, of Appleton, dances the role of Ivy.
“I think every little girl wants a doll for Christmas, and I think it’s really cute because the doll is wanting the girl for Christmas,” Rachel said.

Sixth grader Mandy Behm, 12, of Greenville portrays Holly, and says one of her favorite moments is when she as the doll is interacting with other toys in the toy store.

“They’re telling Holly how if she doesn’t get a home before Christmas, then after Christmas, she has to be put in a box all year long,” Mandy said.

The ballet’s three stories share one very happy ending. (Spoiler alert: Stop here if you want to be surprised at the concert.)

“An apprentice to the toy store loses the key to the store and Ivy finds the key,” Makaroff said. “She saves the store and as a reward the store owner gives her the doll. When Ivy comes forward with the key, the police officer says, who are you and where are you from, and finds out she is an orphan, and he decides with his wife that they would adopt her. In the end, everybody’s wish comes true.”

IF YOU GO

What: Makaroff Youth Ballet’s holiday concert

When: 1 and 7 p.m. Dec. 11 and 2 p.m. Dec. 12

Where: Stansbury Theatre at Lawrence University in downtown Appleton

Details: The concert features the ballet “The Story of Holly & Ivy,” based on a children’s book of the same name. Other concert highlights include classical ballet and modern dance pieces choreographed to traditional and modern holiday music.

Tickets: $15 adults, $12 senior citizens ages 60 and older, and $10 students.
They’re available in advance at Heid Music, 308 E. College Ave., Appleton. A limited number of tickets may be available at the door.

Discounts: Ticket discounts are available inside Arts Network Downtown Arts Passports. Get a $3 discount per ticket, for up to four tickets per Arts Passport coupon. The Arts Passports are available at Heid Music, Optima Graphics, Appleton Downtown Inc. and the Trout Museum of Art.

Contact: 920-257-8288

On the Web: www.makaroffyouthballet.org

Read more: http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20101128/APC0506/101126065/Makaroff-Youth-Ballet-ready-to-dance-into-a-holiday-tale#ixzz16bKrbDnQ

 

Kara Patterson column: Makaroff Youth Ballet grad, dancers aid Mexican youth

December 6, 2009

The day after Thanksgiving, Appleton native Jenny Laux, who teaches dance to impoverished youth in Juarez, Mexico, helped serve a meal to the children and their families.

Laux, 24, instructs the youth in ballet as intern director of Cor Ignis Dance Company, which provides teachers for Emmanuel Ballet Academy under the umbrella of Emmanuel Ministries. She also attends Healing Place Church of El Paso, Tex., which provides families in Juarez with resources such as the meal.

During the meal, an adult asked the children what they were thankful for. Hands shot up, and answers popped like popcorn. Friends, brothers, sisters, family. Dance.

"What we say over here is dance breaks down cultural barriers," said Laux, an alumna of Makaroff Youth Ballet in the Fox Valley and a graduate of North Carolina School of the Arts. "It's a universal language. It's just understood that it's therapeutic for many people. Most of the kids come from very difficult situations. The kids learn an alternative means of living. The ministries is a Christian organization and that is implemented into the (dance) program. We feel that is the only way to change what is going on in their lives, is to give them hope."

Makaroff Youth Ballet is partnering with Laux to collect new or gently used ballet clothing, including leotards, skirts and dance shoes, for students at Emmanuel Ballet Academy. People can place items in the collection boxes at Saturday and Dec. 13 performances of "The Nutcracker." The company also is accepting donations of new dance tights, or money to purchase them, and funds to help cover shipping costs.

"It's really nice to be able to connect and have our dancers do a service project they can relate to," said Linda Drezdzon, Makaroff Youth Ballet's executive director. "A lot of dancers will grow out of their dance clothes before they wear out their dance clothes. You end up with things that are still in wonderful condition and can be used. This is a way to recycle those clothes."

Wendy Krueger of Appleton co-owns Dance!, a dancewear and dance supply store on College Avenue in Appleton. The store is participating in the collection by selling Makaroff Youth Ballet new tights for the Mexican youth at a discounted price.

Krueger, who has taught beginning ballet classes at the Makaroff School of Ballet in Appleton, said keeping young dancers outfitted can be a significant challenge for families.

A beginning dancer's basic ensemble runs $40 to $45, and pointe shoes for more advanced ballet students can run $60 to $80, Krueger said.

"We have a lot of parents who come into the shop and say the outfit is more expensive than the classes," she said. "We have many parents who come in at the first of the year and who bought shoes at back-to-school time, and their child has grown."

Emmanuel Ballet Academy enrolls students in ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary dance and gymnastics classes at no cost to their families. Some students live at Emmanuel Ministries' Emmanuel Children's Home because they have no surviving adult family members or can't live at home. Others live with family members in impoverished conditions.

"The kids are able to participate if they would like to," said Laux, who lives in El Paso and commutes about 20 minutes across the U.S.-Mexican border. "But there are many guidelines that go along with that. They must be on time, they must participate well and we do evaluations at the end of each class to monitor progress and attitude."

The girls and boys, ages 6 through 17, perform several times per year for their community. Their Christmas presentation is Dec. 17.

Emmanuel Ministries, including the dance outreach, runs on donations of others' time, money, talents and provisions, Laux said.

"They are just very gracious for everything they get, little things," Laux said. "The kids are required to have a dress code, pink or white tights, a solid-colored leotard, the appropriate technique shoes. Often that's how they're given things, through donations."

The teachers distribute donated items based on need and size. Some go into a prize box for students who show effort, improvement and good character traits.

Of most need, Laux said, are boys' dance apparel, including black dance pants and technique shoes, and girls' dance apparel for ages 11-16. The school also can use other items such as dance bags and warm-up clothing.

 

 

Makaroff Youth Ballet's 'The Nutcracker' becoming a popular holiday tradition as performance is added at Stansbury Theatre at Lawrence University in downtown Appleton

By Kara Patterson • Post-Crescent staff writer • November 17, 2009

Makaroff Youth Ballet is bringing the beloved holiday classic ballet "The Nutcracker" back to the Fox Cities this year with a special gift for its audiences.

Because of brisk ticket sales a month ahead of the ballet's two-day run, the nonprofit youth ballet company has added a third performance. The ballet begins at 1 and 7 p.m. Dec. 12 and 2 p.m. Dec. 13 in Stansbury Theatre at Lawrence University in downtown Appleton. The additional performance is the Dec. 12 matinee.

"We are about 40 percent sold for Saturday and just about 50 percent for Sunday, and we haven't even done any advertising yet," Makaroff Youth Ballet executive director Linda Drezdzon said, adding that some response is likely from a direct mailing to donors and pre-sales to company families. "Two years ago we had a lot of people try to purchase tickets at the door and couldn't because we had sold out. Our ticket outlet said two years ago we could have sold out a third show."

In "The Nutcracker," the company's 20-plus advanced dancers, who also train at the Makaroff School of Ballet, dance alongside other students from the school and adults from the community.

"'The Nutcracker' is a huge production for us to do," Drezdzon said. "It makes 'The Nutcracker' very special when we present it every other year."

Jeanette Makaroff, the company's artistic director, said she stays true to the story of "The Nutcracker" from year to year, but adds personal touches here and there.

The story follows Klara, a young girl who receives a nutcracker from her godfather during her family's Christmas party. She and her brother fight over the nutcracker, and it breaks. That evening, she sees a mouse before bed, and it frightens her. When she falls asleep, her dreams feature a battle sequence between the nutcracker and his toy soldiers against the Mouse Queen. Klara throws her shoe at the Mouse Queen, giving victory to the nutcracker, who comes to life. He and Klara celebrate in the magical Land of Sweets, where dancers from around the world dance for them.

"My personal touch I've added to it is to tie the first act and second act together," Makaroff said. "Klara, the little girl, likes to read about faraway lands. It helps (her dream) make sense because in the second act all of the dances represent other countries. In the first act when Klara makes her entrance she's reading a book on China. When other children are given presents like dolls and horns, she's given a book on Spain."

Also, when the nutcracker comes to life, he resembles Klara's godfather's young nephew, who has caught Klara's eye at the party.

Odyssey Elementary School sixth-grader Brooke Bayer is taking the stage as Klara.

"I like telling the story to the audience because probably there will be some children and maybe they'll go home and they'll remember it and say, 'I wish I could dream about stuff like that,'" said Brooke, 10, of Appleton.

Lauren Nasci, formerly of Neenah and an alumna of Makaroff Youth Ballet and its predecessor companies, is portraying the Sugar Plum Fairy, considered the lead dancing role.

For Lauren, 17, who danced the role last year with her ballet school in Milwaukee, the ballet is a holiday tradition.

"It's just like opening presents under the Christmas tree," she said.

Drezdzon said the company keeps "The Nutcracker" affordable for audiences and dancers.

Company dancers pay for classes but not for their places in the company and for the ballet need only supply makeup and shoes, Drezdzon said.

"They're not paying costume fees, activity fees, theater fees or annual tuition," she said.

As in the past the company is donating tickets to nonprofit groups such as the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Fox Valley and Thompson Community Center, but this year corporate sponsorships and grants are helping to offset costs.

A supportive donor base helps, although donations are down a bit, Drezdzon said. The company's fall letter campaign is raising funds for general operations and also to save for specific items such as rental or purchase of a portable dance floor.

"It's nice to have the community behind us because eventually we would like to bring this 'Nutcracker' to the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center stage," she said. "That's our goal as a ballet company, to reach a stage that prominent in our community. Those community organizations investing in us now just helps to build that foundation."

 

 

Ashlee Bormes is out in front as the Nutcracker's Snow Queen during rehearsal at the Makaroff School of Ballet. (Photo for The P-C by Wm. Glasheen)

09-03-2009

MAKAROFF YOUTH BALLET PRESENTS THE NUTCRACKER

 

The Makaroff Youth Ballet has announced that it will present its full-length Nutcracker Ballet December 12 and 13, 2009 at the Stansbury Theater on the Lawrence University campus.

“The Nutcracker is a favorite family holiday tradition and the Makaroff Youth Ballet is pleased to offer our pre-professional production to the Fox Valley communities,” said MYB Executive Director, Linda Drezdzon.  “The amazing talent our dancers bring to the stage is really a treat for our audiences and the dancers love to share the magic of this ballet.”

MYB last presented the full-length Nutcracker Ballet in December 2007 and quickly sold out both performances.

“Based on the success of our 2007 performance, we are considering three performances this year,” said Drezdzon.

The Nutcracker is the story of a young girl named Clara who attends her parent’s holiday party and then falls asleep to dream of a land of sweets and a courageous prince.  The ballet is set to the music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Tickets will go on sale the middle of October.

MYB is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to make the fine art of ballet accessible to the Fox Valley communities through its young, advanced dancers.  It also strives to provide its dancers with pre-professional performance opportunities.  More information regarding MYB can be found on its web site www.makaroffyouthballet.org.

 

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