More than 800 children from Los Angeles and Ventura County schools were treated to a special performance of the Nutcracker last Friday. The Malibu Ballet Society, along with Starbucks Coffee and Pepperdine University, sponsored the event that brought children from economically challenged areas to watch the ballet that has become a Malibu tradition.
As well as putting on the special performances, the Malibu Ballet Society donated tickets for guests from The American Lung Association and the Malibu-based Free Arts for Abused Children to attend the show Saturday night.
“It was so successful. It brought tears to my eyes,” said Denise Ritchie, one of the event’s organizers. “Pepperdine donated all their staff, their parking people, their production people. It was one of those real Malibu community moments. And it wasn’t just adults. It was the kids from our community and the adults from our community uniting and giving this gift to other communities.”
“It was beyond my dreams of what these children would go away with,” said project coordinator Lisa Simon. “A lot of these children had never seen ‘The Nutcracker.’ They had seen pictures of it in books but they had no idea of what it really was. I had one little boy who would not get out of his seat. He told me he was not going to leave. He wanted to see more.”
“It was a wonderful opportunity to inspire the children to dance and to see performances,” said Jodie Hoffman, a first- and second-grade teacher at Wonderland Elementary School. “It was wonderful and the dancers were great.
“It gave them a desire to watch more. They weren’t ready for it to be over.”
“I thought it was very amazing with all the lights and all the dancers were amazing,” said Kandice, age 9.
After the performance, the dancers and people behind the scenes sat down on the stage and answered questions from the children.
“They wanted to see the toe shoes. They wanted to know how the dancers got started in dance,” said Simon. “They wanted to know what the backdrop was made of so one of the crew came out and explained it to them.”
When they asked how the Christmas tree was made, Artistic Director JoAnna Jarvis explained that she had started piecing it together many years ago in her driveway.
“It was great,” said parent and chaperone Faustina Omon. “I think it was good for the kids to see it. My daughter takes ballet and it was inspiring. It gives children an insight into the performing arts.”
“The lighting director, the director, the producer, the sound-they were all good theatrical opportunities,” said Hoffman.