In the classic holiday ballet, a little girl named Clara is transported to a magical land where the Sugar Plum Fairy reigns and sweet treats dance to music from around the world.
In the morning, though, Clara wakes with only a nutcracker as a reminder of her fantastic journey. It was all a dream - or was it?
Kat Barlow has been on her own fantastic journey since early 2011, but the production of “The Nutcracker” Dec. 15-16 will prove she’s not just dreaming. Barlow is the founder of the Northwest Arkansas Arts Foundation, dedicated to the idea that performing arts enhance lives and should be accessible to everyone. The Holiday Nutcracker Show, half talent show, half selections from “The Nutcracker,” is the foundation’s public debut.
“A big part of the foundation’s mission is to share local and national performing arts with our community and to introduce new talent as we discover it in our Northwest Arkansas area,” Barlow says.
“We will also present state and national performers whenever possible.”
All in all, Barlow says, more than 100 local dancers will perform next weekend, along with Marica Porter, dance mistress of Western Arkansas Ballet in Fort Smith, as the Snow Queen, and Hannah Brown, a student at Brigham Young University who is originally from Northwest Arkansas, and Sally Ashcraft of Springdale, who has danced in Little Rock, North Carolina and Edinburgh, Scotland, as the Sugar Plum Fairies.
Porter also is dancing two roles in the Western Arkansas Ballet production of “The Nutcracker” this weekend. Noworries, she says.
“I don’t really think about how I do it,” she says. “I just do it. I think that’s what comes from being involved in dance, ballet and theater all my life. I know it will come together; you just have to trust the process and the people.”
What drives Porter, a veteran of ballet companies in Dallas and western Oklahoma, is “the opportunity to pass (dance) on to the next generation. I lovethat! I thrive on it.”
As a teacher with Western Arkansas Ballet, Porter sees youngsters learn discipline, responsibility, confidence and time management they can use throughout their lives.
“It’s so exciting to watch them grow,” she says.
That’s what inspired Barlow to create the Northwest Arkansas Arts Foundation.
Running a business that sells dance-related supplies, she sawstudents who couldn’t afford or access what they wanted, and she dreamed of a nonprofit organization that could provide scholarships, sponsorships, master and open classes and rehearsal space to meet those needs. Next year, she says, the foundation will kick off a capital campaign to build a practice facility. available to artisans working not just in dance and movement but also in music, theater, film, fashion and cooking.
“We started with dance, then musicians piped up and said they could use practice space,” Barlow says. “Then a theater group spoke up. Everybody loves fashion, and cooking is art on a plate. It just all kind of came together.
“We’re using this holiday show to announce that the foundation exists and invite people to learn about us and support us,” she says.
That’s how Ashcraft came to be dancing the Sugar Plum Fairy on Dec. 16 - to show her support.
“I think, as with any nonprofit, the challenges will be fundraising and cultivating a strong board, laying that foundation from the get-go,” she says. “This ‘Nutcracker’ is going to really set a good bar.”
Whats Up, Pages 11 on 12/07/2012