Inside This Guide - LPAC

Spotlight on Ballet!dancers spend a great deal of time stretching in splits toopen up their hips.Nancy’s role in her ballet recital is very important to her. Butwhat is ballet? What do dancers study? Share the followingbackground with students before they see the play, or practice reading comprehension skills by having students readindependently or in small groups.Basic Foot PositionsThe positions of the feet in ballet are a fundamental part ofballet exercise. There are five basic positions of the feet inmodern-day classical ballet, known as the first through fifthpositions. These five positions were defined by the dancingmaster Pierre Beauchamp in the late 17th century.Brief HistoryBallet is a very old form of dance. It began in the 15th centuryin Italy as a light form of entertainment enjoyed by royalty.Later it was developed into its own art form by the French andRussians. The terms for ballet steps all come from the Frenchlanguage. Ultimately ballet became an internationally recognized and loved form of dance. Full-lengthstory ballets such as Giselle, Sleeping Beautyand Swan Lake are part of any classical dancecompany’s repertory. The Nutcracker is a children’s favorite during the holiday season.Boys, girls, men and women all study ballet.Third position is simply a relaxed fifth position. As a dancerdevelops turnout and hip strength, they can stand correctly infifth position, which requires the toes to touch the heels.Ballet is very demanding, requiring years oftraining and an excellent sense of timing andfeeling for music. Professional ballet dancerspractice for several hours daily to stay inshape. Ballet schools are found in every city.Ballet training is not just for the aspiring balletdancer. It also provides a base for learning modern dance,helps children appreciate music, and improves athletic abilityfor many sports.Ballet BarreThe ballet barre consists ofexercises done while holdingonto a long hand rail for stability. (The hand rail itself iscalled the “barre.”)Ballet TrainingTurnout and FlexibilityThe exercises begin simplywith deep knee bends called“plies” from each of the fivebasic positions. Next, dancersoften practice a series ofquicker brushing steps calledtendus to warm up the feet. Plies and tendus are just a fewof the exercises dancers do at the barre.Turnout is essential to classical ballet. Turnout is a rotationof the leg which comes fromthe hips, causing the kneeand foot to turn outward,away from the center of thebody. To warm up, ballet9

Spotlight on Ballet! cont.Ballet Center MovementsPut It All Together—Choreography!In the center of the room, ballet dancers work on movementcombinations. An adagio is a series of slow, fluid movementswith legs unfolding high into the air.Choreography is the art of makinga dance by connecting various ballet steps into patterns that reflectfeeling for music. Many ballet students get their earliest danceexperience by performing in theannual holiday production of TheNutcracker. In Portland, our majorballet company is called OregonBallet Theatre. In the video below,the very youngest dancers in theSchool of Oregon Ballet Theatretransform the simple steps they’velearned in beginning classes intoa dance.Next, dancers practice pirouettes – turning combinations.Advanced male dancers can easily rotate 4-5 times at once!Multiple pirouettes require great leg strength and a strongsense of balance. To keep from getting dizzy, dancers “spot”a particular point in front of them. The head rotates aroundquickly and back to that point with each turn.www.youtube.com/watch?v s7QzsmHn8Ik10

Reading ListDressing Up/Fabulous Fashionand MannersWhat We Wear – Dressing Up Around the World by MayaAjmera. Uses colorful photographs to show the clothing anddress of children from places around the globe, includingPeru, Uganda, and Sweden.Nabeel’s New Pants – An Eid Tale by Fawzia Gilani-Williams.Now that the celebration of Eid is about to begin, Nabeel theshoemaker is persuaded by the shopkeeper to get new pantsfor himself, but the only pair available is too long.I Had a Favorite Dress by Boni Ashburn. A young girl loves herfavorite dress, but when it gets worn, goes out of fashion, orshe grows too big to fit, her mother fixes up her old favoriteinto something new.Fashion Kitty by Cherise Mericle Harper. After a stack of fashion magazines falls on Kiki Kitty’s head while she is blowingout the candles on her birthday cake, Kiki turns into FashionKitty, a feline superhero who saves other kitties fromfashion disaster.Princess Bess Gets Dressed by Margery Cuyler. A fashionablydressed princess reveals her favorite clothes at the end of abusy day.Zorro Gets An Outfit by Carter Goodrich. Zorro is embarrassed at having to wear a fancy outfit to the park and MisterBud is unable to cheer him up until a “cool” new dog arrivesin his own fancy clothes and challenges the friends to a race.Annie and Snowball and the Dress-up Birthday by CynthiaRylant. Annie and her pet rabbit, Snowball, invite Henry andMudge to a dress-up birthday party, but there is some confusion about what the guests are supposed to wear.My Princess Boy by Cheryl Kilodavis. A four-year-old boy lovesdressing up in princess clothing. “This little boy loves the colorpink, and sparkly things. Sometimes he wears dresses, andsometimes he wears jeans. He likes to wear his princess tiara,even when climbing trees. He’s a Princess Boy, and his familyloves him exactly the way he is.Ella Sarah Gets Dressed by Margaret Chodos-Irvine. Despitethe advice of others in her family, Ella Sarah persists in wearingthe striking and unusual outfit of her own choosing.Polly’s Pink Pajamas by Vivian French. Polly loves her pinkpajamas so much that she wears them day and night, butwhen Fred invites her to a party, she visits all of her friendsto borrow the special clothes she thinks she will need.Ooh La La Polka-dot Boots by Ellen Olson-Brown. Illustrationsand brief rhyming text sing the praises of polka-dot boots,which add panache to any outfit.Princess Grace by Mary Hoffman. Grace wants to participatein her community festival’s princess float, but first she mustdecide what sort of a princess she wants to be – froman African princess in kente cloth robes to a floaty pink fairytale princess.Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems. Wilbur, a nakedmole rat who likes to wear clothes, is forced to go before thewise community elder, who surprises the other naked molerats with his pronouncement.Clothes I Love to Wear by Cheryl Hudson Willis. A vivaciousyoung girl tries on various clothes in an attic and enters aworld of her imagination and personal creativity.Louise the Big Cheese and the La-di-da Shoes by ElisePrimavera. Louise’s mother will not allow her to get shinyblack shoes with sparkles on them, but when her friend Ferngets a pair, Louise finds out just how impractical fancy shoesreally are.11

Reading List cont.Overcoming DisappointmentThe Honest-to-Goodness Truth by Pat McKissack. After promising never to lie, Libby learns that blurting out the whole truthcan be lead to disappointments too.“You always saythat anyone can befancy. There mustbe a way to befancy, even asa tree.”No Fair Science Fair by Nancy Poydar. Otis finally comes upwith the idea to build a bird feeder for the science fair, but he’sdisappointed when no birds show up.My Best Friend by Mary Ann Rodman. Six-year-old Lily has abest friend all picked out for play group day, but unfortunatelythe differences between first-graders and second-graders aresometimes very largeDon’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems. When a busdriver takes a break from his route, Pigeon is disappointed thathe can’t drive the bus.12

Teacher Resource GuideOn the wayPORTL ANDSTRSTRSWEE TSWEE TfersnisononMarC AR5th6thSWNDClaySWParkTL rint the included Fancy Nancy vocabulary words beforeyour field trip and cut apart. Make sure you have one wordper student (words may need to be repeated depending onthe size of your class). Once you’re on the bus, give eachstudent a vocabulary word. Their goal is to silently act outtheir word on the way to the theater for their seatmate,whose job is to guess the word. Once they’ve got it, switchroles. If you have time, you can also have students swapwords with the students near them to play a second round.SWSWVocabulary CharadesSWOn your way to the theater, play this memory game. The firststudent says: I’m going to a tea party and I’m bringing apples(or appetizers or armadillos or any word that begins with A).The next student says: I’m going to a tea party and I’m bringing apples and blackberry biscuits (or another word thatbegins with B). Repeat the sequence with the whole group.Can students make it through the whole alphabet? What kindsof fancy or unusual items might they bring to a tea party?SWNinTea PartySWWinningstad Theatre1111 SW BroadwaySWIt’s finally field trip day! How are you getting to the theater?Do you have a long trip by bus or car? Take a look at theseactivities which can be completed by you and your studentsas you travel to downtown Portland.ketMillC ARDowntown Portland Scavenger HuntPrint copies of the downtown Portland scavenger hunt checklist and complete it on your bus ride, or if you have some walking time before or after your visit to Oregon Children’s Theatre.Students can work in pairs or individually. When you’re back atschool, talk with students about what they saw.Lost or running late?Call us at (503) 228-9571.

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On The WayDowntown Portland Scavenger HuntName and date A non-Oregon or Washington license plate Cyclist The Portland sign Street performer A statue or sculpture Pedicab (a bicycle that can carry passengers) Star shapes Timbers jersey Two bridges—do you know their names? A person wearing a hat that’snot a baseball cap MAX or street car Water fountain Pedestrian holding a cup of coffee Police officer An umbrella A food cart Mounted police Skyscraper—can you count how manystories it has? Window washers OHSU tramA person wearing a suit Chess boardBonus Items!

Teacher Resource GuideAf ter The Pl ayQuestions aboutFancy Nancy?After the Play:What did you see?Do any of your students have questions for an actor, crew member or designer from Fancy Nancy? Use the student playbill ordownload an electronic version from our website to find castand crew names. Email questions to teachers@octc.organd your student’s question could be featured in an upcoming OCT blog post!Download the After the Play worksheet on the next pageand print a class set. Soon after seeing the play, ask studentsto complete the drawing and response portions of the sheeteither in class or at home.For behind-the-scenes photos, video, and more, visit our blogat www.octc.org/blog.Write to OregonChildren’s TheatreLetters to NancyWe love hearing student feedback and responses to ourshows! Please feel free to share any letters from studentswith us:Students can practice writing friendly letters using one ofthe following:1.Imagine that you are Nancy’s pen pal and that she’s justtold you about getting cast as a tree and that she is verydisappointed. Write a letter of advice to Nancy telling herwhat you think she should do.2. Imagine that you are throwing a fancy party and writinga letter to Nancy inviting her to attend. Be sure to includethe date and time, what you’ll be serving, fancy activitiesat the party, and any other details.Oregon Children’s Theatre1939 NE Sandy Blvd.Portland, OR 97232Letters can also be emailed to teachers@octc.org.

Af ter The Pl ayWhat did you see?Name and dateWhat did you see on stage? Recall a scene you remember and draw it in the space above. Include scenery,characters, and props.

Af ter The Pl ayWhat did you see? cont.1. Describe what is happening in your drawing.2. List two or three things you liked about the play.3. If you were directing your own version of this play, what would you do differently?4. Write one question you had about the play that you’d like to ask Oregon Children’s Theatre. Questionscan be for actors, the director, a designer, etc.

Portrait: Distribute portrait worksheets and art materials and allow time for portrait work to begin! If you have access to a mirror, encourage students to practice their fanciest facial expressions in it and draw what they see. A self-portrait is a representa-tion of an artist that is dra