Max
12-20-2002, 02:05 PM
Rockin' ballet gets wheels rollin' for disabled dancers
By Jeff Commings
JCOMMINGS(AT)ABQTRIB.COM / 823-3684
Leajato Robinson softly takes Elizabeth Archibeque's hand and looks deep into her eyes.
As the music envelopes them, the two dancers take an entwined spin on the dance floor, eyes never looking away.
After a few seconds, the partners let go, taking off to find another partner.
Though the moment is fleeting, it's Archibeque's favorite part of performing in the Keshet Dance Company production of "Nutcracker on the Rocks."
Archibeque, 12, isn't like most dancers. She does her pirouettes with the help of a joystick on the left arm of her motorized wheelchair.
Archibeque has cerebral palsy. She is one of three wheelchair-bound performers in the sixth annual rock 'n' roll variation of the classic Christmas tale.
Thanks to Keshet's mission of teaching dancers regardless of ability, Archibeque can make the most of her capacities.
"It's good that I'm able to do it and look like I'm actually doing ballet," she says after two run-throughs of the Dance of the Snowflakes.
Robinson, a Minneapolis native, plays the Nutcracker who encounters about 20 living snowflakes, including Archibeque, in the Dance of the Snowflakes. He comes alive in the show with the help of a young girl named Marie, the lead character.
The pas de deux between Archibeque and Robinson during rehearsal last week isn't their first meeting. After performing with Robinson, 30, in last year's show, Archibeque received a gift that started a yearlong crush.
"Last year after the final show," she says with a giggle that turns into full laughter, "he walked up to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek! I thought that was really nice, and so it was so cool to see him again!"
In the performance, Archibeque also enjoys a brief time out of her chair, rolling over four supine dancers before getting an aided return to her chair. It's her second favorite part of this year's show - in part, because Robinson is one of those dancers.
The chance to remove stereotypes from audiences is one of the reasons disabled dancers want to perform in the show, says Keshet founder and "Rocks" creator Shira Greenberg.
"A lot of these kids don't want to be held back," Greenberg says. "A lot of them actually don't want to be confined to their wheelchairs."
The Dance of the Snowflakes is a slightly improvised scene featuring dancers - both able-bodied and disabled - ranging from novice to expert.
Greenberg's choice to put disabled kids in the show has garnered rave reviews and four trophies from national organizations.
In 2000 it was the Bravo Cable Network's National Smart Start Award and a Bravo local award.
The next year, Keshet received the city-sponsored Martin Luther King Multicultural Award.
The most recent award came just a month ago, when Greenberg and others in the company traveled to Philadelphia to accept the Peter F. Drucker Innovation Award.
"It was a different scene for us, going up there and getting all dressed up," says Greenberg, clothed on a Tuesday evening in an outfit you don't wear to ceremonies: a bulky sweatshirt and sweat pants.
A letter that accompanied the award from the Drucker Foundation says the show "is truly transforming lives." It also mentions that the production "breaks down community barriers of who can and cannot do certain things."
The heaps of awards help the production's visibility, Greenberg says, but the show hasn't changed as a result. And neither has she.
When she's not darting in and out of offices filled with racks of costumes, she's presiding over the 78 children and adults filing in and out of Studio B, the large studio in the back of Keshet's headquarters on Coal Avenue Southeast. This evening, one of a dozen fixes includes trying to turn 20 giggly kids into 20 frightened mice who witness their Mouse Queen die in a sword fight.
"You're not supposed to laugh," Greenberg says with a smile to the dancers, who try to stifle their own grins as they crouch low to the floor. "She just got stabbed! You're not happy."
The use of music - ranging from New Age to classic funk to R&B and back again - remains a standout in the show.
Greenberg can't recall the exact reason behind her musical choices, but remembers the decision came as "a natural progression to figuring out what was going to be different."
Purists of Peter Tchaikovsky, the composer of the original ballet, can still delight in the fact that the original music bookends the show.
"We want people to know they're in the right theater," Greenberg says. "Then we turn things around on them."
Next year, Archibeque hopes the improved movement in her legs will turn things around for her.
"I would actually like to be a different character next year," she says. "Maybe Marie."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
`NUTCRACKER ON THE ROCKS' - 7:30 p.m. Dec. 20, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 21, 2 and 6 p.m. Dec. 22. Runs through Dec. 29. Rodey Theater, UNM Center for the Arts. $16-$18. 851-5050 or (800) 905-3315 or www.tickets.com (http://www.tickets.com).
Print this
http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/diversions02/122002_diversions_keshet.shtml
By Jeff Commings
JCOMMINGS(AT)ABQTRIB.COM / 823-3684
Leajato Robinson softly takes Elizabeth Archibeque's hand and looks deep into her eyes.
As the music envelopes them, the two dancers take an entwined spin on the dance floor, eyes never looking away.
After a few seconds, the partners let go, taking off to find another partner.
Though the moment is fleeting, it's Archibeque's favorite part of performing in the Keshet Dance Company production of "Nutcracker on the Rocks."
Archibeque, 12, isn't like most dancers. She does her pirouettes with the help of a joystick on the left arm of her motorized wheelchair.
Archibeque has cerebral palsy. She is one of three wheelchair-bound performers in the sixth annual rock 'n' roll variation of the classic Christmas tale.
Thanks to Keshet's mission of teaching dancers regardless of ability, Archibeque can make the most of her capacities.
"It's good that I'm able to do it and look like I'm actually doing ballet," she says after two run-throughs of the Dance of the Snowflakes.
Robinson, a Minneapolis native, plays the Nutcracker who encounters about 20 living snowflakes, including Archibeque, in the Dance of the Snowflakes. He comes alive in the show with the help of a young girl named Marie, the lead character.
The pas de deux between Archibeque and Robinson during rehearsal last week isn't their first meeting. After performing with Robinson, 30, in last year's show, Archibeque received a gift that started a yearlong crush.
"Last year after the final show," she says with a giggle that turns into full laughter, "he walked up to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek! I thought that was really nice, and so it was so cool to see him again!"
In the performance, Archibeque also enjoys a brief time out of her chair, rolling over four supine dancers before getting an aided return to her chair. It's her second favorite part of this year's show - in part, because Robinson is one of those dancers.
The chance to remove stereotypes from audiences is one of the reasons disabled dancers want to perform in the show, says Keshet founder and "Rocks" creator Shira Greenberg.
"A lot of these kids don't want to be held back," Greenberg says. "A lot of them actually don't want to be confined to their wheelchairs."
The Dance of the Snowflakes is a slightly improvised scene featuring dancers - both able-bodied and disabled - ranging from novice to expert.
Greenberg's choice to put disabled kids in the show has garnered rave reviews and four trophies from national organizations.
In 2000 it was the Bravo Cable Network's National Smart Start Award and a Bravo local award.
The next year, Keshet received the city-sponsored Martin Luther King Multicultural Award.
The most recent award came just a month ago, when Greenberg and others in the company traveled to Philadelphia to accept the Peter F. Drucker Innovation Award.
"It was a different scene for us, going up there and getting all dressed up," says Greenberg, clothed on a Tuesday evening in an outfit you don't wear to ceremonies: a bulky sweatshirt and sweat pants.
A letter that accompanied the award from the Drucker Foundation says the show "is truly transforming lives." It also mentions that the production "breaks down community barriers of who can and cannot do certain things."
The heaps of awards help the production's visibility, Greenberg says, but the show hasn't changed as a result. And neither has she.
When she's not darting in and out of offices filled with racks of costumes, she's presiding over the 78 children and adults filing in and out of Studio B, the large studio in the back of Keshet's headquarters on Coal Avenue Southeast. This evening, one of a dozen fixes includes trying to turn 20 giggly kids into 20 frightened mice who witness their Mouse Queen die in a sword fight.
"You're not supposed to laugh," Greenberg says with a smile to the dancers, who try to stifle their own grins as they crouch low to the floor. "She just got stabbed! You're not happy."
The use of music - ranging from New Age to classic funk to R&B and back again - remains a standout in the show.
Greenberg can't recall the exact reason behind her musical choices, but remembers the decision came as "a natural progression to figuring out what was going to be different."
Purists of Peter Tchaikovsky, the composer of the original ballet, can still delight in the fact that the original music bookends the show.
"We want people to know they're in the right theater," Greenberg says. "Then we turn things around on them."
Next year, Archibeque hopes the improved movement in her legs will turn things around for her.
"I would actually like to be a different character next year," she says. "Maybe Marie."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
`NUTCRACKER ON THE ROCKS' - 7:30 p.m. Dec. 20, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 21, 2 and 6 p.m. Dec. 22. Runs through Dec. 29. Rodey Theater, UNM Center for the Arts. $16-$18. 851-5050 or (800) 905-3315 or www.tickets.com (http://www.tickets.com).
Print this
http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/diversions02/122002_diversions_keshet.shtml