Third Place Winner (3-way tie): JaShauna McNamee
9th Grade
April, 2006
Funk & Wagnall’s
new international Dictionary of the English language defines ballet as: “an
elaborate kind of dramatic group dance using conventionalized movements, often
for narrative effect.”
Ballet,
as shown in the definition above is a way for the dancer to express him/herself. The
story that is told is about love, pain, hurt, death or tragedy. Even
just plain old fun can be expressed through movement. It is also a way
for the choreographer to express his/her vision through the dancer.
The experience
of attending the ballet meant a lot to me because it was something so new to
me. Never before did I see such raw emotion performed before me. A
long time ago I wanted to be a dancer, but in New York where I grew up I wasn’t
able to pursue dance. Not until I moved from New York to New Jersey did
I get the opportunity. I had never gone to an all out performing arts
school, so going to Cicely Tyson was new to me. Even though I was in
theatre arts, dance was still important to me in many ways. To me, going
to NJPAC to see the dance recital was a great privilege and it showed me that
nothing happens overnight. The dancers who performed did not just become
great by dreaming about dancing; they achieved greatness by doing. That
applies to everything—not just dance or the performing arts. So
if I want to be a dancer, I have to stop just dreaming and do it. So
I guess you could say that the experience for me at NJPAC was a life changing
one with my new found zest and zeal for dance. It occurred to me if I
try hard then anything is attainable, especially my goals as far as dance is
concerned.
The ballet
has enriched my life greatly because now I’m sure I would like to keep
pursuing dance and drama. I learned so much about theater etiquette and
how a performing arts center is run. It has enriched my life because
it has helped me realize that everything isn’t black and white; there
are a lot of shades of gray in between. You can learn from paying attention
to the gray areas.
It is my
strong belief that Ballet should be accessible to more children because performing
arts, especially dance, represent traditions of the world which have been performed
for over 1,000 years. Then children see dance and fall in love with it,
they carry on the tradition. Ballet is something that requires a lot
of discipline. It was said at the performance at NJPAC that ballet is
a sport like basketball with leaps and turns and, like basketball, becoming
a ballet performer you have to be dedicated.
The arts
are so important in today society because there are so many bad influences
in the world today. Ballet can be a way for children to get away from
all those bad influences. There are lots of schools for kids who wish
to become dancers. These schools give hundreds of dancers their education
and along with teaching you to keep your back straight and to keep you feet
in fifth position, they teach you how to channel your emotion. You
will learn so much not only the draft of drama, musical instruments, choir,
dance and so forth, but you’ll learn some of the most powerful life lessons. You
will always learn more than you except that’s why the arts are so important
in today’s society, because kids need places where they can learn and
have some kind of impact on the world.
It never occurred
to me that I would learn so much from attending the New Jersey Ballet, but
I truly believe that there is knowledge everywhere even where you would least
expect it. The ballet was a life changing experience because it rediscovered my
lost dreams. If ballet were more accessible to more children, we would
have more enriched children and possibly smarter adults. The arts are important
in history and they help new generations remember the old. In today’s
society where it is all about technology and money, it’s nice to just be
able to go to the theatre.
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