2008 Woodie Awards
UNCG Theater brings Degas' Little Dancer to audiences around the Triad area
Ashley Johnson
Issue date: 4/8/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment
There's always something fulfilling about following the line of a child's imagination as it moves with the characters around the stage, and the cast of Degas' Little Dancer wholly agrees. "This has absolutely changed my life. You do a lot of things for theater, but the kids leave dancing and it makes a big difference," says Jamie Brown, one of the dancers in the small children's play. The energetic cast of eight has been touring for a while in Tennessee, Virginia, and various "cafegymatoriums," as they call them, around North Carolina.
The general theme, as with any message directed towards children, was "follow your dreams"-or in this case, "change the steps." The story was partially set in Chicago, but mostly took place in Paris, France. Degas, as mastered by Marvin Riggins, is a blinding French painter who is left with his father's debts and is forced to paint for an unnamed rich man. All the while, a hopeful young dancer named Marie, played whimsically by Lauren Diaz, struggles to obtain perfection and the approval from her struggling mother (Erica Honeycutt) and strict dance master (David Godshall). In the play, Marie struggles as her dance company is continually casted as small chorus parts in ballets as "rats." Degas, on the other hand, struggles to find the perfect dancer to paint and meet his deadline. Closier (Kaleigh Malloy) brings Marie to the infamous Degas, or as he is known among the dancers Monsieur Terrible, to pose. Little does he know his interactions with Marie change his perspective, or "steps," about the way he goes about his work.
The complexity of the play's storyline seemed to be a bit much at first, but the cast affirmed that the kids understood what's going on, saying that they were a extremely smart group and that they really get it. The audience loved the play and more often than not the children and even the adults found the actors funny and very entertaining. "Ballet appeals to a certain audience and it's not about target audiences, it's about reaching everyone," says Brown. In order to reach the masses, director Jennifer Ridgway spruced up scenes by adding Krump dancing. One specific scene involved the entire cast Krump dancing at the end of the performance, an addition that wasn't in the original script.
While impressionism was the original central focal point for the dance in Degas, Ridgway desired a style relative to now. "Of course none of us will completely know what art styles will have a lasting effect. Impressionism took thirty years before it was accepted," says Ridgway. Ridgway credits her inspiration to a certain boy she had seen in a class she was substituting for a year ago in Washington, DC. "Interested in reaching a broader spectrum of students with the show, I, of course, went home and looked Krump up". The "supportive form" of Krumping, as Ridgway calls it, was an important element to uphold in the production. It supported the theme while contrasting heavily with Marie's need for support of her own. Because of the great amount of audience involvement, Degas' Little Dancer has been receiving positive feedback along the tour, especially from the children who get the chance to meet the actors after the show.
Of the all the companies that entered the South Eastern Theater Conference, only three, UNCG included, were selected to compete. "Without winning, we won," said Brown. When asked how they felt about Degas, members of the cast shared Brown's sentiment. "This is my first show and I like getting the energy from the children. I like seeing how the dancing makes them feel" says Brittany Dunlap, also a dancing extra alongside Kylie Simpson in the play.
To the cast, the major attractiveness of the tour is traveling to towns where theater, or any arts programs for that matter, aren't offered or even heard of. It was suggested that this feeling may exist due to two reasons: the arts aren't respected as a form of learning, or because the schools simply can't afford them. The entire cast agrees that these are the most interesting shows to play because the kids get into the action and they leave more excited because of their inherent thirst for arts-related programs in smaller regions. "Performing for kids is the best thing ever because the kids get so involved. It's really awesome because we get to perform for a variety of children and adults," says Erica Brown, the hardworking mother for the character of Marie. The tour is showing for a large variety of students ranging from kindergarten through twelfth grade.
Each actor responded differently to their experience on the road. Marvin Riggins enjoyed his time on stage. "I love being on tour and performing the show so many times because as an actor you rarely get to do that. It's fun to reinvent the character at each performance and do new things. It's the best process there is." Malloy thought the rigors of the show was the toughest part, "Every week it's something different, something more ridiculous than the last but at the end of the day, the kids make it and I love it."
Degas' Little Dancer will be running from now until April 29, 2008 in various locations. Tickets are on sale in the UNCG Box Office.
The general theme, as with any message directed towards children, was "follow your dreams"-or in this case, "change the steps." The story was partially set in Chicago, but mostly took place in Paris, France. Degas, as mastered by Marvin Riggins, is a blinding French painter who is left with his father's debts and is forced to paint for an unnamed rich man. All the while, a hopeful young dancer named Marie, played whimsically by Lauren Diaz, struggles to obtain perfection and the approval from her struggling mother (Erica Honeycutt) and strict dance master (David Godshall). In the play, Marie struggles as her dance company is continually casted as small chorus parts in ballets as "rats." Degas, on the other hand, struggles to find the perfect dancer to paint and meet his deadline. Closier (Kaleigh Malloy) brings Marie to the infamous Degas, or as he is known among the dancers Monsieur Terrible, to pose. Little does he know his interactions with Marie change his perspective, or "steps," about the way he goes about his work.
The complexity of the play's storyline seemed to be a bit much at first, but the cast affirmed that the kids understood what's going on, saying that they were a extremely smart group and that they really get it. The audience loved the play and more often than not the children and even the adults found the actors funny and very entertaining. "Ballet appeals to a certain audience and it's not about target audiences, it's about reaching everyone," says Brown. In order to reach the masses, director Jennifer Ridgway spruced up scenes by adding Krump dancing. One specific scene involved the entire cast Krump dancing at the end of the performance, an addition that wasn't in the original script.
While impressionism was the original central focal point for the dance in Degas, Ridgway desired a style relative to now. "Of course none of us will completely know what art styles will have a lasting effect. Impressionism took thirty years before it was accepted," says Ridgway. Ridgway credits her inspiration to a certain boy she had seen in a class she was substituting for a year ago in Washington, DC. "Interested in reaching a broader spectrum of students with the show, I, of course, went home and looked Krump up". The "supportive form" of Krumping, as Ridgway calls it, was an important element to uphold in the production. It supported the theme while contrasting heavily with Marie's need for support of her own. Because of the great amount of audience involvement, Degas' Little Dancer has been receiving positive feedback along the tour, especially from the children who get the chance to meet the actors after the show.
Of the all the companies that entered the South Eastern Theater Conference, only three, UNCG included, were selected to compete. "Without winning, we won," said Brown. When asked how they felt about Degas, members of the cast shared Brown's sentiment. "This is my first show and I like getting the energy from the children. I like seeing how the dancing makes them feel" says Brittany Dunlap, also a dancing extra alongside Kylie Simpson in the play.
To the cast, the major attractiveness of the tour is traveling to towns where theater, or any arts programs for that matter, aren't offered or even heard of. It was suggested that this feeling may exist due to two reasons: the arts aren't respected as a form of learning, or because the schools simply can't afford them. The entire cast agrees that these are the most interesting shows to play because the kids get into the action and they leave more excited because of their inherent thirst for arts-related programs in smaller regions. "Performing for kids is the best thing ever because the kids get so involved. It's really awesome because we get to perform for a variety of children and adults," says Erica Brown, the hardworking mother for the character of Marie. The tour is showing for a large variety of students ranging from kindergarten through twelfth grade.
Each actor responded differently to their experience on the road. Marvin Riggins enjoyed his time on stage. "I love being on tour and performing the show so many times because as an actor you rarely get to do that. It's fun to reinvent the character at each performance and do new things. It's the best process there is." Malloy thought the rigors of the show was the toughest part, "Every week it's something different, something more ridiculous than the last but at the end of the day, the kids make it and I love it."
Degas' Little Dancer will be running from now until April 29, 2008 in various locations. Tickets are on sale in the UNCG Box Office.
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