Since 2014, Laguna Blanca has taken part in a program that has  not only provided valuable learning material, but also has created a fun way for students to interact with the ballet community. “[The Laguna Blanca library dances] are collaboration[s] that take students, a famous book and dancers [in order to] put together a program involv[ing] both dance and theater,” AP English Languageteacher Charles Donelan said.

The Library Dances are a collaboration between Laguna Blanca students and the State Street Ballet.

State Street Ballet was founded in 1994 by Rodney Gustafson, a former member of the American Ballet Theatre in New York City, and has earned critical acclaim due to its tours of the “Nutcracker,” “Romeo and Juliet” and “Cinderella.”

The Ballet has a Library Dance outreach program, from which Laguna, San Marcos and Santa Barbara High Schools, are currently benefiting. These dances were started by dancer Cecily Stewart.

Stewart acquired the dancing itch after witnessing the State Street Ballet perform at her school, Washington Elementary.

That moment’s beauty carried with Stewart, and after many years of hard work, she finally achieved the level it took to become a member of the State Street Ballet.

After joining the Ballet Stewart noted, “I realized that we didn’t do any outreach in our own community, even though we do a lot when we’re on tour. So, I tried to think of what we could do within the local schools that would be inspiring and educational and also integrate dance.”

The Library Dances are a program that was started in 2014, and their goal is to teach high schoolers to dance based on the literature (ie. Famous books, plays, etc.) they are reading that year.

Each dance is limited to one month of practice, with professional dancers from the State Street Ballet coming in on a weekly basis.

“It’s one of the most interesting projects I’ve been able to get going at Laguna Blanca.”

Students seem to feel the same way about the performers. Grace Fitzpatrick, a ninth grader in the performance, said, “It’s really fun to be in because you get to have these dance
rs come in and they teach you cool dances from the 1920s.”

The “Great Gatsby” performance was a success. The auditorium had quite the turnout, about 90%  full. Furthermore the play itself  “was a very clean run given the number of rehearsals we had,” said Donelan.

The acting was spot on and the professional dancers blew the audience away. The choreography that the dancers and students created was outstanding, and the mishaps that occurred were quickly covered up in a skilled and officient manner.

Overall the Gatsby was a huge success for both the performers and the audience.

Following the performance, Head of School Rob Hereford said, “Kudos to Charles Donelan and Dana Caldwell for another wonderful Library Dances performance last night.  It was great to see so many of our kids on stage who had never had the courage to do so before.  This program is a nice example of our faculty encouraging students to explore aspects of themselves that they may have never seen.  I was also thrilled to see a packed house for the performance.”