PAART announces addition of educational outreach matinees

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Pictured is a dancer in the Nashville Ballet's production of The Singing Tortoise.

September 28, 2010

Anonymous Submitted The Crossville Chronicle Tue Sep 28, 2010, 02:34 PM CDT

PAART recently announced an additional performance of Nashville Ballet's The Singing Tortoise.

"We are pleased to offer additional educational outreach matinees for three of our upcoming performances. These matinees will be made available to students and seniors," said PAART President Debbie Mendenhall. "We will begin to offer these matinees with the upcoming performance of The Singing Tortoise on Oct. 1. Matinees are also planned for the Nov. 5 performance of Out of the Mist...a Dragon and the Dec. 3 performance of Coyote Run's A Kilted Christmas."

Nashville Ballet's The Singing Tortoise is choreographed by Artistic Director Paul Vasterling, with an original musical score by Belmont University professor Todd London and costumes created by Mimi Shimmin, including jewelry and masks inspired by traditional West African culture. Nashville Ballet’s version of The Singing Tortoise combines several artistic forms of expression, including dance, music, art and drama. Each dancer portrays a specific character from the story, which is narrated in live form. The original West African folktale can be found in the book The Cow-Tail Switch and Other West African Stories by Harold Courlander, George Herzog and Madye Lee Chastain.

In the tale, a hunter named Ama finds a very special tortoise singing and playing a sansa. Before the tortoise will agree to return to his village to sing for him each day, she extracts a promise from Ama that he will tell no one of her magic gifts. Ama breaks his promise and tells everyone in the village of the tortoise’s mesmerizing singing. The villagers refuse to believe him and demand proof. Ama attempts to get the tortoise to sing for the villagers, but she only sits and stares at them. Ama is branded a liar and banished from the village. Only then does the tortoise speak to the villagers telling them that Ama brought this punishment upon himself by breaking his promise. She reminds the villagers and Ama of several important lessons, including keeping promises, when she picks up her sansa and sings, “It is man who imposes upon things, not things that impose upon man.”

Since its founding as a civic dance company in 1981 and a professional ballet company in 1986, Nashville Ballet has flourished into the only professional ballet company in Middle Tennessee. Nashville Ballet Company has earned the respect of audiences and reviewers alike by making classical and contemporary ballet accessible to new and traditional audiences. An intrinsic part of Nashville Ballet’s mission is its commitment to community outreach and education. PAART is also committed to community outreach and education and is excited about this opportunity to offer a 12:30 p.m. matinee performance of The Singing Tortoise to students and seniors.

Please make a note of the earlier start time for the evening performance. PAART events normally start at 7 p.m. but to accommodate the Ballet this performance will start at 6 p.m. central time. Reserved seating tickets for the evening performance of The Singing Tortoise are $15 for adults and $8 for students and can be purchased at the Palace Theatre, 72 S Main in Crossville, or by calling the Cumberland County Playhouse box office at 484-5000 (a small convenience fee will apply.) Tickets for the 12:30 p.m. educational outreach matinee are $3 for students, seniors (55 and up) are $5 and teachers are free. The matinee tickets are general admission and reservations can be made at www.performingartsalliance.org/BalletOutreach.aspx.

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