Children make a wonderful audience, says Claire Bataille, assistant artistic director of the Hubbard Street Dance Company. ”They`re so uninhibited,” she says. ”If they see something they like, they`ll start clapping or yelling and sometimes in the jazz style when we move our hips in a way that people aren`t accustomed to seeing, they`ll respond too and get embarrassed.”
To help hone children`s reactions to dance, the Hubbard Street dancers perform a program that lets them see the nitty-gritty of dancers` training and the magic of their performances. Bataille will moderate the program, which is part of the Children`s Programs at Ravinia this summer.
She says that when children arrive, the stage will be bare and the company will be going through the stages of their regular ballet class warmup. ”A dancer`s body has to basically start over every day,” explains Bataille. ”You have to rework the strength and flexibility of your muscles on a daily basis starting with your feet and working you way up your body to prepare for the day`s work.”
The children will see how a stage is ”dressed” for a performance with the wings, the lights and the scrim. The company will first perform a dance dressed in their rehearsal clothes before they come back to dance again in costumes. ”They see the backstage view and then see it transformed into the magic of live theater,” says Bataille, ”and they can see the definite effect that costuming has in creating either character or mood or line.”
Bataille also talks to the children about various styles of dance, and the dancers demonstrate the differences with such Hubbard Street basics as
”Line Drive.” ”I talk about the combination of the ballet technique and the high energy of jazz in the music and the attack of the movement,” she says, ”and `Line Drive` is good because it`s very energetic and children see unison dancing right off the bat so they get a clear picture.”
Before the dancers conclude with the company`s signature piece, called
”The Forties,” Bataille has the children stand up and try out eight counts of the arm movements the dancers will be doing. ”It gives them the feeling that they are part of live theater for a moment,” she says. But even when the children aren`t moving their arms to be part of the performance, their presence is crucial. ”People are used to sitting with a remote control or seeing a film, but here you`re not seeing something that was done well once and then put in a can,” says Bataille. ”The way a dancer relates to the audience and the audience relates to you is very special in live theater and it`s very important for any performer to feel the audience response.”
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Ravinia Children`s Programs; Ravinia Park, Green Bay Road just north of Lake-Cook Road, Highland Park; 312-R-A-V-I-N-I-A. July 13, Jackie Torrence, the Story Lady; July 20, Fred Penner; July 27, Ballet Chicago; Aug. 3, The Storytellers; Aug. 17, Tom Chapin; Aug. 31, Hubbard Street Dance Company. All children`s programs are held in the pavilion at 11 a.m. except for the Hubbard Street program, which is at 2 p.m.; $3-$10 for pavilion seating, $1-$3 for the lawn depending on the performance.
Picnic Performances
Children may react spontaneously to the performing arts, but sometimes a little lesson in appreciation makes the experience more meaningful. That`s why the Grant Park Concerts Society has organized free week-day Picnic Performances in the morning to complement their late afternoon Concert for Kids, Too! programs on Sundays, which are also free. The Picnic Performance on Tuesday, entitled ”Listening to Classical Music,” uses examples to demonstrate a variety of musical styles. ”Children don`t know what to expect at a concert of classical music,” says Elizabeth Kearns, executive director of the Grant Park Concerts Society. ”Unlike rock, jazz, blues or pop music, classical music requires quiet listening because it can evoke mental pictures.”
Children also will discover the techniques of traditional ballet with the dancers of the Boitsov Classical Ballet, the instruments that make up an orchestra with the musicians of the Grant Park Symphony and the elements of opera with the performers from the Lincoln Opera as well as the pleasures of many other performing arts.
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Grant Park Concerts Society performances for children; Petrillo Music Shell, Columbus Drive and Jackson Boulevard; 312-819-0614. Concerts for Kids, Too! at 5 p.m.: Sunday, Ballet Chicago; July 14, Boitsov Classical Ballet;
July 21, Mini-History of the Musical Theater; Aug. 4, Chicago Children`s Choir; Aug. 11, ”The Marriage of Figaro” with Lincoln Opera; Aug. 18, Windy City Winds; Aug. 25, Sherwood Conservatory. Picnic Performances at 9:30 a.m.: Tuesday, Listening to Classical Music; July 16, Boitsov Classical Ballet; July 19, Choral Voices; July 30, Instruments of the Orchestra; Aug. 6, Lincoln Opera; Aug. 20, Sherwood Conservatory; free.
