|
Manasquan Opens Its Homes To Russian Ballet Artists
Thanks to the Algonquin Arts Theater, a Thanksgiving Manasquan ritual that locals have come to cherish is the arrival of the Russian ballet dancers.
The 50-member Moscow Ballet troupe begins its annual “Nutcracker” tour of the United States in Manasquan for one reason: hospitality. Unlike the other stops, Manasquan opens
its homes to the company. The Russians, mostly artists in the late teens and 20s, bunk with local families who volunteer to take them in. The Russians also join their hosts
around the Thanksgiving table. The host families bond with their guests as each learns something about the way the others live. The dancers visit is especially eye-opening
for children ages 6-11, who get to perform with the troupe.
To see photos of the dancers, the host families,
and the production just click here.
Cranberries and vodka
Posted by The Star-Ledger November 18, 2007 12:18PM
Shore town hosts holiday homecoming for Russian dancers
BY ROBERT JOHNSON STAR-LEDGER STAFF
DANCE
Moscow Classical Ballet
What: "The Nutcracker"
Where: Algonquin Arts, 173 Main St., Manasquan
When: 8 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday
How much: $38-$40 ($18 for children 13 and under). Call (732) 528-9211 or visit www.algonquinarts.org.
Thanksgiving is a homey affair in Manasquan. Once the summer crowds depart, this seaside community falls back on traditions as predictable as sweeping the autumn leaves.
Manasquan's Thanksgiving rituals include the bonfire parade, where everyone recognizes the marchers, and the football game, where the town's gridiron heroes face off against
their rivals from Wall Township.
Another Thanksgiving tradition that locals have come to cherish is the arrival of the Russian ballet dancers. Thanks to the Algonquin Arts Theater in Manasquan, a bus
pulls up on Tuesday, every year around this time, bearing the 50-plus members of the Moscow Classical Ballet. After a 10-hour flight with their feet propped up on the seats
in front of them, it's good-bye to the Kremlin and hello to the Jersey Shore.
The troupe begins its annual "Nutcracker" tour of the United States in Manasquan for one very good reason: hospitality. Unlike the other stops on its arduous bus ride
to California, Manasquan opens its homes to the company. The Russians, mostly artists in their late teens and 20s, bunk with local families who volunteer to take them in.
The Russians also join their hosts around the Thanksgiving table and vodka shots have become as common in Manasquan as cranberry sauce.
"I'm just amazed that they come to our little town and put on such an amazing performance," says Dottie Guerrasio, a homemaker who takes in a couple of Russian dancers
each year, readying gift baskets of stationery and soaps, while her older daughter, Olivia, vacates her bedroom and makes room in her closet.
Manasquan, with a population of fewer than 7,000, may be small, but the town has a big heart. On the days when the Russians perform, their host families ply them with
black coffee and hot soup, and when the shows are finished and the dancers can really eat, Manasquan lays out a farewell spread with baked ziti, meatballs and every kind
of salad.
The Russians stay until Saturday night, giving three performances of "The Nutcracker" on Friday and Saturday. Typically their visit is a love-fest in which the host families
bond with their guests and each group learns something about the way the others live.
"It was a way to involve the community, so the experience was something in addition to the performances themselves," says Dana Roberts, the theater's publicist, who remembers
how the former executive director of Algonquin Arts, Fran Drew, hatched this scheme four years ago. "Part of the reason they look forward to coming back here is because they
are treated with such generosity. They're pampered while they're here, and treated with a lot of individual attention. That's really meaningful to them."
The dancers' visit is especially eye-opening for the kids, ages 6-11, who get to perform with them. After an intensive, two-hour rehearsal with ballet master Sergei Belorbykin,
the dance students appear in the ballet's fancy-dress party in Act One. Then they change into mouse costumes to scare the ballet's heroine, Clara, who dreams that the Nutcracker
rescues her and takes her on a journey to the Land of Sweets. Since the ballet master speaks no English, all these preparations are made in sign language with help from Algonquin
Arts' coordinator Leslie Sims, who does a mean mouse impersonation.
Even the kids who don't perform are amazed when they see the Russians on stage. Host Noel Gaeta introduced her grandchildren to her Russian guests at Thanksgiving dinner
before taking them to the theater.
"That was so exciting for them," Gaeta recalls. "They were sitting in the front row giving little waves to "their' dancers, who were trying not to acknowledge them but
obviously saw them."
Most of the dancers don't speak English. Each host family receives a tip sheet with some helpful phrases in Russian, and the dancers are used to communicating without
speech. They trade simple words like "hi" and "thank you."
Chocolate bars are a form of currency everyone understands, and the Russians make their preferences known. During the limited amount of free time between their rehearsals
and dance classes, they like to go shopping (some bring extra suitcases) or walk on the beach. They hang around the kitchen, peel potatoes and help set the table for Thanksgiving.
Proudly they show their hosts the pictures of their families that they carry on their cellphones. The rules are fairly relaxed: no smoking in the house and no long distance
calls to Moscow.
Guerrasio's guests for two years running, Victoria Smirnova and Artem Khoroashilov, seemed thoroughly relaxed until the family saw them in action. "My daughter went to
the first performance and she came out out-of-breath," Guerrasio recalls. "She said, 'Do you know what Artem is?' No, what? 'He's the Nutcracker! He's the lead dancer!' We
had no idea.
"Artem is a very thin person," Guerrasio continues. "In street clothes he just looks like your average Joe, but seeing how he lifted the female dancer was an awesome thing.
Victoria wanted to change her pointe shoes, and when she put them on and walked around our house, the muscle structure in her legs was awesome. I was just amazed at how athletic
they are."
Guerrasio also noticed that the dancers seem mature for their age. "They know what they're doing and where they're going in life. They're more directed. They have to decide
at a very young age that they're going to be professional dancers. Victoria has been in professional dance school from the time she was 9 years old. That's all she wants
to do. That's her life, dancing."
Amid a flurry of beautiful snowflakes, is it possible to have a favorite? For Ellen Easton and her family it's easy. Their favorite is dancer Irina Grishina, who has returned
to their home every year since they met her in 2003. Easton recalls that first night, when she and her older daughter, Jessica, went to meet their unknown guest at the bus
stop.
"This beautiful girl gets off the bus -- blond hair pulled back in a bun, totally made up, absolutely striking -- and my daughter says, 'I want her!' I said, 'Well, I
don't think we're going to get her, but I don't know.'
"So sure enough Leslie, who was running the program said, 'Okay, we have the Eastons here, Mrs. Easton and her daughter Jessica' and Irina turned around and she said,
'I'll go!' Well, my daughter at that point is screaming, 'Oh, my God! We got the ballerina we wanted.' So she quickly called my husband and said, 'Dad! You better stay up
because we got the prettiest ballerina of all.' She's strikingly beautiful. She's patient, and she's very loving."
Grishina is also one of the few who speaks English fluently. Now the night of her arrival becomes a four-hour pajama party, in which the family and their ballerina stay
up talking into the wee hours. They communicate via e-mail during the year, as Irina tours with the company to far-flung locations in Spain, China and Japan.
Yet the hours she spends in Manasquan are precious -- especially since the Eastons never know whether they will see her again. The Moscow Classical Ballet splits up to
travel to different countries, and no dancer is guaranteed a spot in the "Nutcracker" tour to America, although many of the same performers return from year to year. "We
cry when she gets here, we're so happy to see her," Easton says, "and we cry when she leaves."
The ballerina has developed a mentoring relationship with Easton's two girls. She gives Jessica, now a 13-year-old dance student, tips on her ballet technique, and teaches
the secrets of stage makeup to Olivia. "From the minute she wakes up, Olivia, my 8-year-old, is glued to her hip," Easton says.
"We're exhausted by the time the week is over," Guerrasio says, "But I can't imagine doing anything else for Thanksgiving week. I really can't. Two years ago they didn't
come and we really missed them!
"I think people need to be open to other cultures, and understanding and generous to people that they might not know everything about, because you never know what great
experience is going to come out of that," Guerrasio adds.
|
