Texas Ballet Theater (TBT) is delighted to
offer Fort Worth ISD students the
opportunity to watch professional ballet
dancers in the unique setting of TBT’s own
West Fort Worth rehearsal studio.
Each performance will run approximately
45 minutes. The dancers will appear in full
costume and the students will be seated no
more than 15 feet from the dancers – This,
truly, is an “up-close” experience. The
performance will conclude with a brief
Q&A session for the students to ask our
dancers about their lives and training.
www.texasballettheater.org
The Story of The Sleeping Beauty Ballet:
The court of King Florestan is celebrating the christening of
Princess Aurora. The king and queen enter, followed by six
fairies and their cavaliers. Each fairy dances, offering a special
gift to the infant princess.
Suddenly, before the Lilac Fairy can present her gift, the wicked
fairy Carabosse interrupts the ceremony. Angry because she
has not been invited, Carabosse delivers a curse upon the tiny
princess: she will grow up to be beautiful, but one day, will
prick her finger and die. The Lilac Fairy intervenes, promising
that the princess will sleep until wakened by a prince’s kiss.
At her 16th birthday party, Carabosse is in disguise and hands
Aurora a bouquet in which a spindle is concealed.
The Story of The Sleeping Beauty Ballet:
Aurora pricks her finger, and as she falls asleep, the Lilac
Fairy appears and casts her spell, putting the entire court to
sleep.
One hundred years have passed. Prince Florimund and his
hunting party stop beside a lake. The Lilac Fairy appears and
conjures a vision of Princess Aurora. Enchanted by the vision,
Prince Florimund begs the Lilac Fairy to lead him to Aurora.
A boat takes them to a castle, where they are confronted by
Carabosse, who turns herself into a monster. With help from
the Lilac Fairy, the prince overpowers Carabosse. Once inside
the castle, Prince Florimund discovers the sleeping Aurora
and awakens her with a kiss.
The Story of The Sleeping Beauty:
ACT III - The act that students will
see during their trip to TBT
The court is celebrating the
wedding of Princess Aurora and
Prince Florimund. Characters from
other fairy tales have joined the
celebration. After Aurora and
Florimund’s grand pas de dux
(dance), the occasion ends as the
entire court joins in the finale.
The Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Tchaikovsky was born in 1840 and died in 1893. He was a
Russian composer whose works included symphonies,
concertos, operas, ballets, chamber music, and a choral
setting of the Russian Orthodox Divine Liturgy. He was
the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting
impression internationally.
Tchaikovsky wrote many works that are popular with the
classical music public, including his Romeo and Juliet,
the 1812 Overture, his three ballets (The Nutcracker, Swan
Lake, The Sleeping Beauty) and Marche Slave. These,
along with his First Piano Concerto and his Violin
Concerto, the last three of his six numbered symphonies
and his operas The Queen of Spades and Eugene Onegin,
are among his most familiar works.
Listen to his music here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sb8WCPjPDs
The Choreography: Marius Petipa
Choreography is a set of dance movements combined
together to create a dance. The original choreography of The
Sleeping Beauty was created by Marius Petipa. Petipa was
born in France in 1822 he died in Russia in 1910. Petipa’s
father Jean Antoine Petipa was a dancer, choreographer and
teacher who brought up both Marius and his elder brother,
Lucien, to follow the same profession. Lucien made a better
name for himself as a dancer but it was Marius who excelled
at choreography.
By the time of his retirement after 56 years with the same
company in Russia he had choreographed approximately 50
ballets including: Don Quixote, Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty
and Swan Lake.
The Ballet:
Imagine what it would be like to watch a football game
for the first time if you did not know a single thing about
the game. Not only would you be confused, you
probably would not enjoy it very much. The same is true
of watching ballet.
Ballet is a way of telling a story using music and movement instead of
words. The “language” of ballet consists of patterns of movement that
have developed over centuries.
Ballet began as ballroom dancing in the courts of Italy and
France about 450 years ago. It is based on a response that
is natural to all human beings – the desire to move our
bodies when we hear music.
The Ballet:
Like all sports and forms of dance, ballet includes movements we are
familiar with - running, jumping, balancing and lifting - and uses them in
a very particular and formalized way.
Although there are hundreds of steps and positions in any single ballet
performance, each of them begins and ends with one of the five basic
positions of the feet. The five basic ballet positions are shown below:
Practice the five basic
ballet positions:
https://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=b3bawTE
PLtA
The Ballet:
A technique characteristic of ballet is dancing en
pointe. Dancing en pointe means dancing on the tips
of the toes. The first ballerina to do this was the
famous dancer Marie Taglioni in 1832. To dance en
pointe, dancers wear special shoes made of fabric
stiffened with glue. Most girls are about 12 years old
before they have enough strength and training to
begin dancing en pointe.
Dancers who perform ballet on stage are highly trained. They often
begin studying dance at the age of eight or nine, or even younger.
While girls learn to dance en pointe, boys who study dance must be
very strong in order to perform high jumps and turns and to lift their
partner in the air. The training of male dancers includes weight lifting
and other exercises to build upper body strength.
The Ballet:
To pursue ballet as a career, a person must be talented and
athletic, very hardworking and dedicated to the art. Like the
many people who aren’t professionals but playing football
and other sports for fun, many people, children and adult,
study ballet just for enjoyment.
Taking ballet classes is an excellent way to gain physical
fitness while developing grace, poise, and agility. Many
football players and other pro athletes take ballet classes to
improve their balance, rhythm, coordination and flexibility.
Lynn Swann was a wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers whose
ballet training was well known throughout the league. His ballet
training enabled him to defy gravity. Swann played in 4 Superbowls
and was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Watching a Ballet Performance
•Please turn off all electronic devices.
•Photography and recording is not allowed.
•Please remain in your seat for the entire performance.
•If you need to leave you must be escorted by your chaperone.
•Food and beverages are not allowed in the studio.
Normally when watching a ballet, audience members are
encouraged to be very quiet. While we appreciate this, our
dancers truly enjoy “oohs & aahs” and lots of clapping and
cheering from students if they are seeing things that catch their
attention.
Texas Ballet Theater prides itself on training and educating the future
generation. We are delighted students will be introduced to ballet and
that they will get to see professional dancers in a close setting.
Academics & Ballet
SCIENCE
•learning the parts of the body
•gravity/jumping
•physics of movement
•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwQoKiENkh4
MATH
•counting steps
•counting music rhythms
•applying division and multiplication
•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6qB2pTSRm8
HISTORY
•background of ballet
•background of the Composer and the music
•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aJheLRReE8
Academics & Ballet
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
•French terminology of ballet
ART
•Costumes
•Scenery
•Use of imagination
MUSIC
•identifying different genres of music
•hearing diverse scores of music
•learning how to count music
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
• physical ability/agility
•jumps, stretching
•strength training exercises
Where do Fairy Tales come from?
We know that people have told stories for as long as they've had the voices to tell
them. Fairy tales were originally part of the vast oral tradition of storytelling,
which also encompasses myth, legend, and folklore.
As such their history is difficult to pin down until they were captured on paper.
Once a fairy tale is in print it becomes known as a literary fairy tale. Several of
today’s most popular fairy tales first came into print in Charles Perrault's Stories
from Times Past, with Morals: Tales of Mother Goose in 1697, these stories
included: 'Cinderella', 'The Sleeping Beauty' and 'Little Red Riding Hood'.
Fairy Tale Discussions:
Fairy tales are focused around a problem that needs to be
solved. Discuss what problem that needs to be solved in a
fairy tale like The Sleeping Beauty?
Why do fairy tales start with “once upon a
time” and end with “happily ever after”?
Stories have begun with the phrase “once upon a
time” since at least 1380, this phrase has been
consistently used since 1600.
What makes this phrase and it’s ending
counterpart “happily ever after” so timeless?
Fairy Tale Project:
As the class reads or invents a fairy tale break down the elements in a
fairy tale. The elements below help weave the story in to life!
Fairy Tale Elements:
Characters: (i.e. red ridding hood, wolf, grandma)
Setting: (i.e. the woods, grandma’s house)
Problem: (i.e. knowing who to trust, being alone)
Solution:
Words/Phrases:
What We Learned:
Acting & Sleeping Beauty:
Students and teachers can read aloud the script of Sleeping Beauty
linked below. While the scrip is being read students can role play and act
out the scenes. This is a great way to really get to know the story.
http://www.timelessteacherstuff.com/readerstheater/SleepingBeauty.pdf
Link to example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6vNZmNlZJk
Adaptation Suggestion:
There are so many versions of 'Cinderella' from different cultures. In the
project ‘Around the World With Cinderella,' students make passports
and read versions of 'Cinderella' from several continents. They compare
and contrast stories and then they can write their own. Try this with
Sleeping Beauty!
http://www.weareteachers.com/docs/printable-materials/download-and-print-the-full-size-pdf-here.pdf?sfvrsn=0
The Sleeping Pig Adaptations:
This first grade Performing Arts and Reading integration
lesson was designed using the “The Sleeping Pig”. This
culminating activity allows the students to perform a play
based on the story. In performing the roles of the characters in
the story, the students will become familiar with the characters,
the plot and the setting.
Link to full lesson: http://wwwstatic.kern.org/gems/ciVAPA/TheSleepingPigWrittenLessonP.pdf
Use story props for The Sleeping Pig. Have the characters
colored, laminated, and glued to craft sticks. You can even
made a quick watermelon patch background. The class can
then complete a story structure tree map and discuss the
difference between a summary and retelling. Pick a narrator
to retell the story while a few students re-enact the action.
Link to the full lesson:
http://finallyinfirst.blogspot.com/2011/01/puppet-power.html
Bilingual Classroom Book:
Sleeping Beauty/La Bella Durmiente
Retold by: Carol Ottolenghi
Illustrated by: Joshua James
Beautifully illustrated, this classic tale‚ retold in
English and Spanish‚ will capture children’s
interest and spark their imaginations. Reading the
story in both English and Spanish will encourage
vocabulary development and will foster a love of
reading‚ in any language‚ that is vital to success
in school and in life.
Each classroom attending TBT’s The Sleeping
Beauty will receive a copy of this bilingual book!
$25,000+
$10,000-$24,999
Sid W. Richa rdson Founda tion
Arts Council of Fort Worth & Ta rra nt County
Rosentha l Founda tion
Community Founda tion of North Texa s
Willia m E. Scott Founda tion
Ellison & Edwa rd La sa ter Trust
Texa s Commission for the Arts
Texa s Educa tion Agency
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
$500 - $9,999
Armstrong Founda tion
Arts Council of Northea st Ta rra nt County
Ba tes Conta iner
BBVA Compa ss Founda tion
Jill Bla ck
Colonia l Country Club Cha rity
Communities Founda tion of Texa s
Fort Worth Convention a nd Visitors Burea u
Frost Ba nk
Ma ry Potishma n La rd Trust
Ja ck La rson
Mollie & Ga rla nd La sa ter Trust
Rozell Spra yer Ma nufa cturing
Rya n Founda tion
Sertoma Club of Downtown Fort Worth
Joe P. Stra in
Ta rget Founda tion
Texa s Associa tion of Pa rents & Educa tors of the Dea f
Virginia Street Smith Trust
Wells Fa rgo Founda tion