Backstage at The Nutcracker
This past December Cognizart offered some of our matches the opportunity to get a backstage tour of the Nutcracker! Cognizart is a non-profit organization focused on teaching children the arts. One of their programs provides kids ages 10-18 from underserved communities the opportunity to learn more about the arts by getting backstage tours. This was what our matches got to experience.
“It was such a fun experience,” said Tanya, one of the mentors who got to go with her mentee. “The woman who was giving us the tour was very detailed in how she was sharing everything, even to how the floor is different so the dancers can bounce more.
One of the things that we all thought was so neat was that those big backdrops that you see while sitting in the audience need to be pulled up for different scenes, so behind the stage the ceiling is twice as high as the stage to make room for them. The ceiling is so high up back there, and the girls thought that was really fascinating.
And there's a scene where this girl is on a bed and the bed is moving all around the stage floor. We got to see that underneath the bed they have this little platform and this guy actually lays down underneath the bed with a remote control and he's actually driving it all around the stage.
And while we were getting the tour there were lots of dancers all dressed up walking by and saying hi to the girls, which they just loved. They were so excited to get to see the dancers up close.”
After the backstage tour, the group got to watch the dress rehearsal. “It made it really exciting to then watch the show having all this backstage knowledge of how they put it together and how the magic works,” Tanya said.
Amy, another one of the mentors said, “It was a great experience. My mentee and I really enjoyed it. The backstage tour gave us a glimpse into the dancers’ world, as everyone was bustling around getting ready for the dress rehearsal. We also got to see the heads of the mouse king and his army, and the candy cane hoops. The skirt of Mother Ginger was fun to see- it was HUGE so there was room for all the children to hide underneath!”
Our mentees and mentors loved getting this experience, and we are hopeful that there will be more opportunities like this with Cognizart in the future.
