 |
 |
| Raffield Scholarship Contest winners and New Jersey Ballet dancers line
up together following the lecture/demonstration and presentation of awards
at Cicely Tyson School. From L (student names in caps): Teacher Tom Raffield,
New Jersey Ballet dancers Michelle de Fremery, Mari Sugawa, Albert Davydov,
ARON DAVIS, Paul McRae, JEVONNAH MAYO, Tuvshin Bold, ASHLEY TAYLOR, Saule
Rachmedova, and JaSHAUNNA McNAMEE. Not available for photo: TYSHAN
JARRETT. |
Thanks
to a partnership between an innovative educator and New Jersey Ballet, over
100 East Orange students have learned the idea that the arts can enrich their
lives in many ways. Thomas F. Raffield, M.A. Ed., a teacher at Cicely Tyson
School for Performing and Fine Arts, along with his wife, Gale DiFabio Raffield,
and New Jersey Ballet Company worked together on a program to help students
learn to appreciate the arts – hopefully for the rest of their lives.
The experimental program turned out to be much more than an introduction to
ballet. For some students, it proved to be a life-changing experience.
The program
began with 115 tickets donated by New Jersey Ballet so students from Cicely
Tyson School could attend a performance at NJPAC on April 6. For many, this
was their first opportunity to see a professional ballet company in a world-class
theatre. To say they were appropriately awed and inspired is no exaggeration.
The sentiments were articulated in essays students composed for the Raffield
Scholarship Essay Contest. Students were invited to discuss what the experience
of attending the ballet meant to them and why such opportunities should be made
available to more children. On May 16, five student winners were announced at
an On School Time lecture/demonstration presented at the school by New Jersey
Ballet.
First place winner was Jevonnah Mayo, who received a $250 U. S.
Savings Bond. Second place winner Ashley Taylor received a $150 bond. Third
place was a 3-way tie among Aron Davis, JeShaunna McNamee and Tyshan Jarrett.
Each came away with a $100 savings bond. All five winners received subscriptions
to the New Jersey Ballet 2006-07 Saturday Night Series at Wilkins Theatre,
Kean University, Union.
All students who participated in the essay contest were
rewarded with gift cards to Blockbuster Videos.
The Raffields and New Jersey Ballet hope the program
encourages students to talk about the arts and, when they become adults, to
support the arts. Gale Raffield, who is on the Board of New Jersey Ballet,
is optimistic that the message was received.
“When a student, at some
future time, is sitting in a theatre waiting for the curtain to rise, listening
for the first notes of the orchestra, he or she will recall the night they
first saw professional ballet at NJPAC. At that moment, we will have achieved
our goal.”
For information
about New Jersey Ballet’s educational outreach and On School Time lecture/demonstrations,
please call 973-597-9600.
New Jersey Ballet’s extensive performance schedule is made
possible in part by support from the New Jersey State Council on
the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment
for the Arts, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and by other generous
corporate, foundation, and individual contributions. The company
has been designated a Major Arts Institution by the New Jersey State
Council on the Arts for “artistic excellence, substantial
programming, and broad public service.” For more information
and a 2006-2007 performance schedule, please call 973-597-9600.
EXCERPTS FROM WINNING ESSAYS
FIRST PLACE
“They [the dancers] moved with such grace, life, love, it
amazed me. A peaceful feeling they brought, distributing their gifts,
and in return, capturing all of me. I deliberately watched their
routines, trying to visualize myself on that same stage, hoping I
would reach that peak someday. Some day I would be lifted in the
air like a fragile infant and fly like an eagle.”
– Jevonnah
Mayo, grade 10
SECOND PLACE
“The many different costumes and color schemes kept me at
the edge of my seat during the entire performance. The music, mixed
with the dark greens and the pastel pinks, was at times so dark and
”
– Ashley
Taylor, grade 11.
THIRD PLACE (3-way tie)
“The arts are important in today’s society not only
because it keeps kids off the street and out of trouble, but it gives
us as one generation a sense of release. Everyone has different situations
at home, school, work, or wherever that counselors can’t change
and make better. We can’t trust that our tongues alone would
tell the story and take the audience on a journey, sometimes it takes
the deepest part of us to make others understand. I dance because
of this very reason. In the last ten years of my life, I’ve
lost my parents, been abused, fell downhill, and have gotten clean
from the dirt I was exposed to. How can I testify to others without
speaking of it? I testify through dance! My body is my temple of
stories and you will know my story by looking deep within my heart
and my message and learn.”
– Aron Davis, 12th grade
JaShauna McNamee
Tyshan Jarrett
< Back |
