Sunday, April 30, 2000

Dancers preparing for 'Beauty' grow by leaps and turns

Michelle Christenson/Caller-Times

Wynn Seale students (from left) Adrian Rodriguez, Ashleigh Hunter and Eric Morin rehearse for the school's production of 'Sleeping Beauty.'

Gabriella Flores had never been to the ballet before, nor watched any ballet company performance on television.
   Nevertheless, when her dance teacher, Patricia Hornbeck at Wynn Seale Academy of Fine Arts, was auditioning students for the staging of "Sleeping Beauty," Gabriella, 11, eagerly signed up, anxious to try something new. But when she learned she had earned a small part in the familiar tale of Princess Aurora and the curse placed on her at birth by a vindictive fairy, Gabriella's stomach was a mishmash of nerves.
   "Nobody I know has ever done this before," Gabriella said. "When I first started this, I was afraid I wasn't going to get the dance steps right. I told my sister I didn't think I was going to make it."

'Sleeping Beauty' Performances: 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday at Wynn Seale Academy of Fine Arts, 1707 Ayers St. Tickets: Sold at the door: $1 for adults; 50 cents for students/children

   Afraid to let her teacher down and terrified of erring on stage, Gabriella considered bowing out, but encouraged by her sister, she decided to see it through.
   This week, she and 69 other students take to the stage for two public performances of the good-overcomes-evil tale of a princess doomed to prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel on her 16th birthday. Instead of dying, the princess falls into a 100-year slumber, thanks to the intercession of the Lilac Fairy, and ultimately a kiss from Aurora's true love breaks the spell.
   Performances are 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday at the school's auditorium.
  
   Lesson in confidence
   For Gabriella, "Sleeping Beauty" has been more than an introduction to classical ballet. It has been a lesson in self-confidence, discipline and teamwork that has yielded unexpected results.
   "I used to have a bad report card," Gabriella admitted. "But ever since joining ballet, my grades have picked up a lot, to A's and B's."
   Just as dance technique teaches student how to control their bodies, so too can dance help them discover that "they have the power to control their lives," Hornbeck said.
   "In this day and age there are so many things out there that if kids don't feel like they belong, they'll go anywhere to find it. When I was their own age and my parents divorced, I used dancing as my outlet. And I've tried to teach my kids that dance can apply here. Dance can be something that can help them through whatever they may be struggling with."
  
   Heavy rehearsal schedule
   Every day for the past two months, students have been rehearsing the production. Only a couple, like Ashleigh Hunter, 13, have had studio dance training before coming to Wynn Seale. Ashleigh, who will play Princess Aurora, has been taking ballet since she was 2; this is her first year performing at Wynn Seale, having moved here last summer from North Carolina.
   "I know a lot of kids don't have the money to take ballet lessons," Ashleigh said. "But that's what is so great about this school. Everyone has a chance.
   "I think kids involved in extracurricular activities don't get into as much trouble after school. I know one of the things I've learned is how to work with others, not just what is right for me."
  
   Overcoming shyness
   Samantha De La Garza, 13, said participating in something once completely foreign to her has helped her overcome her shyness. Audrey Platz, 13, says dance has taught her to be more patient, ladylike and how to coach her peers struggling with leaps and turns. Jasper Williams, 11, said it has made him appreciate even more the artistry of figure skating, which he watches on television.
   Eric Morin, 14, on the other hand, never intended on signing up for a ballet production, but did two years ago after accompanying a friend one day to an after-school rehearsal. Now, as he walks down school halls, he enjoys a self-confidence he never had before. Eric, who recently won second in the Corpus Christi Independent School District City (Tennis) Championships, plays the lead male role of Prince Florimund.
  
   'It's kinda cool...'
   "It's kinda cool that other kids look up to me," Eric said. "Most of the teachers now know me and they have respect for me and I have respect for them.
   "Where would I be had I not signed up for ballet? In the principal's office," Eric snickered.
   As the only school in CCISD performing full-length classical ballet, students feel the weight of expectations from faculty and community, Hornbeck said.
   "To stage this particular ballet is a huge undertaking, even for a professional ballet company. But I think the public will be amazed, just amazed."
  
  
  
 

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