"Nutmeg Nuggets: Young dancers can be part of Torrington history"
August 13, 2019
By Jack Sheedy | The Register Citizen
Dance instructor Cassie Sprance helps a young student achieve a desired position.
TORRINGTON — Does your young child love to dance? Maybe he or she can be part of Torrington history this year.
Registration is in full swing now for all ages (about 4 to12) and all levels of dance students at Torrington School of Ballet, for classes beginning in September, said Susan Szabo, TSOB director and children’s ballet mistress.
“There will be open house registration sessions August 19 and 26 and Sept. 5, from 4 to 6:30 p.m.,” she said. “Come meet the teachers of Torrington School of Ballet and get a tour of the building. Plus, receive 15 percent off of all your dance wear needs when you register at an open house.”
And what about being part of Torrington history?
“Our main performance during the year is ‘The Nutcracker,’” Szabo said. “We will be having ‘Nutcracker’ auditions Sept. 21 from 1 to 3 p.m. And this year it’s an all-new ‘Nutcracker,’ with a new set and new costumes. That’s exciting. Students 7 to 14 can audition to be a part of the very first, 50th anniversary performance with brand new scenery and costumes.”
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Pre-ballet classes for ages about 4 to 5 teach students about developing listening skills and discipline, she said. Four levels above that, accommodating ages 6 to 12, build on each other and prepare students to enter Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory classes.
TSOB class size is usually between 12 and 15 students, but no more than 20, Szabo said. “The artistic staff decides where to place students — Cassie Sprance and myself. Lori Pagano, business manager, gets us last year’s roster, and we will go through and give them all their placement levels.”
The Dance Shop, located in the Conservatory with an entrance at 62 Main St., has everything a student needs to wear, she said. “And don’t forget the 15 percent discount for students who register at the open house,” she said.
Szabo took her first dance lesson as a child from a dance school in Torrington. “I knew I wanted to be a teacher from the first day I went to a dance school when I was six,” she said. “My mother said, ‘How was it?’ and I said, ‘I’m going to be a dance teacher.’ I was six years old. Never changed my mind. Never.”
Later, as a teenager, she took lessons from Nutmeg Ballet founder Sharon Dante, who had just returned to Torrington after studying classical ballet in New York City. “It was thrilling for me to find that,” Szabo said.
She said the earlier a child starts, the better the chances are that they can become a professional dancer, if that is the goal. “There are other values to taking ballet as a young child, such as learning listening skills and learning a sense of their bodies,” she said. “For many preschool kids, we are their introduction to life outside the home.”
She said, “The discipline and the training and the detail take young people in a direction where they could be involved in dance — or maybe not. A lot of them stay in the field and a lot of them don’t, but it never leaves them. You can take the dancer out of Nutmeg, but you can’t take Nutmeg out of the dancer.”
Whatever lifetime goals your child ultimately chooses, she or he has a chance now, to be part of Nutmeg’s 50th anniversary celebration, including being among the first dancers to appear in “The Nutcracker” with a brand new set and new costumes.
Contact Lori Pagano at Torrington School of Ballet, 860-482-7375, or go to www.nutmegconservatory.org, then click on “Ballet Programs” and then “TSOB at the Nutmeg” for more information.
IN THE MEDIA
After 50 years of building a reputation for professionalism in dance instruction, Nutmeg Ballet was forced to put that reputation to the test this year. Audition tour director Joan Kunsch injured her arm and was unable to go on her annual 18-city nationwide recruiting tour. But, “Nothing will be canceled,” she promised in early December. “It was up to me to solve it,” said Kunsch. “I thought, ‘Who better to represent Nutmeg than the former students who are making professional company careers around the country?’” She compiled a list of about a dozen Nutmeg alumni around the country and called them. They eagerly accepted the challenge. For example, Kunsch said, “We have a Nutmeg graduate, Amy Potter, who is a principal dancer in the Oklahoma City Ballet, and I called her and she’s ecstatic to do it. She said, ‘Proudly, I would do it. Proudly.’” Another former student, Thel Moore, trained at Nutmeg from 2012 to 2015. He agreed to cover three of Kunsch’s scheduled cities, including Richmond, Va., where he is a danseur at the Richmond Ballet Company. Moore said in an email, “What I typically look for in an audition is a base in classical ballet but also a love for ballet as well. I’m looking for a spark that you usually can’t teach but mold into something beautiful.” He said students are nervous at first, but “when they see the brochure [and] how beautiful the building is and how incredibly professional the staff is, they usually lighten up and get really excited for the audition.” The far-flung team of Nutmeg-trained dancers are directing auditions in January and February in nearly 40 cities in the United States and Canada. Some of these cities are on Tim Melady’s usual itinerary as audition tour co-director. Melady, Nutmeg’s principal ballet master, is also standing in for Kunsch in several cities. Speaking by phone from an airport near St. Louis, Mo., Melady said, “I have been to the West Coast. Seattle had a good turnout. Portland had a good turnout. San Francisco had a good turnout, and they are all so interested in Nutmeg and Torrington!” He said, “We’re so lucky that we have such a respected reputation.” When an auditioning dancer asks about Nutmeg, he refers them to former Nutmeg students in the area, who are happy to talk about their experiences. Melady said the constant influx of students from thousands of miles away is enriching for them, for Nutmeg and for Torrington. “People come to Nutmeg and say, ‘Oh my God, we’re meeting people from Wyoming! From California! This is crazy.’ Everybody knows about Nutmeg Ballet. It’s wonderful!” Kunsch said that when she has gone on the audition tour – which she has done every year since 1993 – she tells dancers, “Not only are you auditioning for Nutmeg; Nutmeg’s auditioning for you.” She tells them, “We’re not looking for perfection. If you were perfect, would you need us? We’re looking for trainability.” Moore said, “Bringing talent from all over is very important because it keeps Nutmeg as one of the best schools to train at in the United States.” Melady said, “[The auditioners] have heard of us, and they’ve heard of our reputation. And that’s a real advantage. Our reputation is golden. There are more and more schools just vying for this slice of talent. And there is always talent.” Victoria Mazzarelli, artistic director, said Torrington auditions at the Nutmeg Conservatory attract not only local aspirants but dancers from New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania for both the summer and year-round programs. Remaining auditions at the Conservatory at 58 Main Street are Feb. 1, 15, 29 and March 7, from 9 a.m. to noon. And by the way, said Mazzarelli, locals are most welcome! “During these next few months, our year-round students and faculty are rehearsing and preparing for our Spring Studio Series that will be held on March 18, 19, 20 and 21,” she said.