It was over cups of Bissinger's fabulous hot chocolate that I met with ballerina Isabelle Knapp last Friday, a few hours before her first appearance in Dance St. Louis' production of "The Joffrey Ballet in Nutcracker." Isabelle, her sister Caroline and her parents, Elizabeth Barnes and George Knapp, moved to the Central West End from Florida last February. She started ballet lessons at UCity's COCA about the same time.
In September Dance St. Louis held auditions at area dancing schools to cast about 100 children who would dance in Nutcracker, which was performed last weekend at The Fabulous Fox. Isabelle and another student from COCA were told immediately that they made the cut and were cast in the "Soldiers Dance." Children in the production ranged in age from 6 to 13, Isabelle's age, and could be no taller than 5 feet.
Children's Ballet Master, Christine Knoblauch-O'Neal, and four assistants started rehearsals with the young dancers almost immediately after casting. By the time Isabelle actually rehearsed with the Joffrey Ballet--the Tuesday before her Friday performance--she could dance her part in her sleep. It was that Tuesday that they also had their first costume fittings. The children had been divided into two groups, "Cast A" and "Cast B." They shared costumes and alternated performances. Isabelle's group danced in three of the six performances over the weekend. I asked Isabelle if any of the Joffrey dancers spoke to the children, and she breathlessly replied: "Yes, the Nutcracker Prince came up and talked to us and it was so cool..."
Isabelle was born in D.C. and has seen Nutcracker every year since she was 4. She never dreamed she would one day be part of it. She laughingly told me she was always so afraid of the life-sized mice in the dance, and considered it sweet justice that her part called for shooting at them with a toy musket.
To add to the glamour of the experience, a friend of her father's sent flowers from New York, and sixty-six friends and a teacher from MICDS, where she is in the 7th grade, were in the audience. Isabelle said that the kids at school were like, "Wow, you're in the Nutcracker?" Isabelle: "I know, it's pretty cool!"
Here is a picture of Isabelle in costume taken backstage. She told me that she did her own makeup, and to complete the costume taped two red circles to her cheeks (not shown). She plans to continue studying ballet twice a week with her "amazing" teacher, Miss Mimi McDonald, at COCA. The ballerina bug has bitten and Isabelle hopes to dance someday with Alvin Ailey or with the National Ballet in Washington.
I attended Sunday evening's performance and was enchanted with the absolutely beautiful production and, of course, with the "Soldier's Dance," made extra special knowing whose rosy cheeks were part of the troupe.
Thanks, Isabelle, for taking time out of your busy weekend to share your story with my readers. I know they will love getting to know you as much as I enjoyed our time together.
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