Wednesday, October 5, 2011

"My" Nutcracker Dream

My Dream of a Nutcracker Performer

So…I’ve decided to enroll my daughter in theater class, not because I want her to be a professional actress, I just want her to have an enriched childhood.

On the first day of class, the teacher asked that we all join hands. As we walked toward “the circle”, my daughter held tightly to my thigh. So many new faces, she wasn’t sure what to do, “I don’t want to do it” she said. My husband and I looked at each other with a disappointing smile and gently pushed some more.   

After circle time, the teacher kindly escorted us out of the room, pointed out the coffee shop and told us to return in about 50 minutes. I am not sure what happened after that, but when we returned, she was holding the teachers hand and had a big smile on her face.

Okay, I would love to have my daughter perform in the Nutcracker. She and I have had this conversation many times since watching a practice performance at a local college. She now wants to be in the Nutcracker…as the lead ballerina. Uh oh, not sure if that is going to happen at 4 years old, but I give her props for shooting high.

I started doing some research on the effects of theater and education and found some interesting results:
  • Drama improves academic performance.
  • Drama students outperform non-arts peers on SAT (2005 study).
  • The Arts increase student engagement and encourages consistent attendance in school.
  • Drama can play a significant role in the continual development of reading comprehension.
  • Drama builds communication skills and improves self-esteem.
  • Drama helps at bridging the achievement gap by catering to different styles of learning.
So just maybe, theater class will serve a purpose other than my Nutcracker dream.

by Anita Smiley






1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Loving it