FACT SHEET
TITLE:URBAN NUTCRACKER:
ANATOMY OF A BALLET
LENGTH:1x60
NOLA CODE:URBA000 SD-Base Revision 001
URBA 000 HD-Base Revision 001
CATEGORY:Music & Entertainment / Holiday / Performance Documentary
OFFERED:September 2009
RELEASE DATE:December 1, 2009
CONTRACT TERMS:Unlimited releases to be completed byNovember 30, 2011.
Additional rights granted:noncommercial cable, school re-record, simulcast and video-on-demand.
PRODUCER: Mediation Way, Inc.
NATIONAL DISTRIBUTOR:American Public Television (APT)
PRESENTER:APT Presentations
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:Urban Nutcracker: Anatomy of a Balletgoes behind-the-scenes of Anthony Williams’ daring adaptation of the holiday classic, in which a diverse group of dancers — a rough-edged tap star, a black cavalier and a Latinateen — put their twist on traditional Nutcracker roles. The performance documentary captures the challenges involved in uniting the multi-ethnic team of dancers, artists and stage crew and presenting the professional-quality stage show on a non-profit budget. Along the way, cameras capture the gradual crumbling of barriers as participants work, learn and perform together.
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URBAN NUTCRACKER /2 FACT SHEET
PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS:Use above for listing. Also included: a press release and production biographies.Visit APTonline.org to download photos.
COPYRIGHT DATE:© 2009 Mediation Way, Inc.
PRODUCTION CREDITS:Writer and Producer: Gonca Sonmez-Poole. Videography and Editing: David Skillicorn.Sound: James Nathaniel Fripp.Narrator: Peter Mehegan.Title Sequences: Curtis Poole. Additional Videography: Rawn Fulton. Additional Sound: Doug Plavin, Richard Williams.Additional Editing: Bryan Castle, Curtis Poole.
NATIONAL UNDERWRITER:The Aaron and Martha Schecter Private Foundation
BROADCAST HISTORY:U.S. television premiere
SCHEDULING SUGGESTION:Air throughout December for Christmas scheduling and other times during the year art & culture blocks.
VIEWER INQUIRIES:Kim MacKinnon
BalletRox
TonyWilliamsDanceCenter
284 Amory Street
Jamaica Plain, MA02130
1-888-880-9964
WEB SITES:
STATION PR CONTACT:Dawn Anderson
American Public Television
(617) 338-4455, ext. 149
11/19/09
Updated 11/16/2011
CONTACT: Dawn Anderson
(617) 338-4455, ext. 149
PRESS RELEASE
URBAN NUTCRACKER:
ANATOMY OF A BALLET
A Vibrant, ModernTake on the Perennial HolidayFavorite
(Boston, MA – October 1, 2009) Each holiday season since 2001, a diverse groupof dancers representing the cultural, ethnic and racial diversity of Bostonhas taken the stage in Anthony Williams’ The Urban Nutcracker. In this unique adaptation of the Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet, a rough-edged tap star, a black cavalier, a Latina teen and others portray traditional Nutcracker characters.
This is The Urban Nutcracker, a ballet whose mission is the message.
Urban Nutcracker: Anatomy of a Ballet goes behind-the-scenes of this annual event to showcase both the production and the tension and exhilaration of presenting a community-based dance show with the quality of a professional production on a non-profit budget.The filmmakers were granted unlimited access to the entire production process — from tryouts and set construction to final dress rehearsals.
The performance documentary, airing on public television stations nationwide beginning in December 2009 (check local listings), follows the chronology of the actual stage show, from the opening prologue to the finale. Segments explore the challenges involved in making this synergy of style and culturea reality: uniting and training a multi-ethnic team of artists, dancers and stage crew, securing resources and performing before sold-out houses.
By blending the Nutcracker tale with the real-life stories of the dancers and crew of BalletRox, Urban Nutcrackercaptures the gradual crumbling of barriers as participants work, learn and perform together. Melissa, a 12-year-old dancer from the local Jamaica Plain community, explains: “You have blacks, you have whites, you have Hispanics, and you have people from Spain… you forget where everybody’s from … they’re all from the same place, because of how they dance, you don’t really remember.”
This dynamic mixture of fact and fiction, fantasy and reality makes for an unusual Nutcracker, and compelling viewing.
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URBAN NUTCRACKER /2 PRESS RELEASE
Produced in 2009 byMediation Way, Inc, Urban Nutcracker: Anatomy of a Ballet is presented by American Public Television through the Exchange service at no cost to public television stations nationwide.
Mediation Way
Mediation Way Inc. works to establish cross-cultural understanding among local and international communities, bridging the differences between class, race, ethnicity, and nationality. To this end, Mediation Way combines the tools of media and academia to find the right balance between the medium and the message. The 501 © 3 organization was founded in 1999 by Gonca Sonmez-Poole, an American of Turkish descent with a dual background in media arts and international human/minority rights.
In 1999 the nonprofit was awarded a $40,000 grant from the U.S. Institute of Peace to produce a TV documentary about Turkey’s Kurdish question. Mediation Way conducted pre-production field research in Turkey in order to produce the documentary. Mediation Way produced a collection of 20 essays on the subject (“The Kurdish Dilemma in Turkey: Beyond the Headline News”) that was positively received and was added to the archives of the grant-giving institution. In 2004–2006, Mediation Way produced video stories related to the Roma (gypsies), as well as organized panel presentations on the topic for the Association for the Study of Nationalities (ASN) convention at ColumbiaUniversity.
In the past three years, Mediation Way has been active in the Boston area by contributing to various dialogue and confidence-building efforts within the Turkish and Armenian communities, including video recording and editing of cultural and academic events, translation services for international guests, and the planning and organizing of dialogue groups.
American Public Television
With more than 10,000 hours of programming in its library, American Public Television (APT) has been a prime source of programming for the nation’s public television stations for 48 years, distributing more than 300 new programs per year. In 2006, APT launched Create –the TV channel featuring the best of public television's lifestyle programming. Known for its leadership in identifying innovative, worthwhile and viewer-friendly programming, APT has established a tradition of providing public television stations with program choices that strengthen and customize their schedules, such as Rick Steves' Europe, Worldfocus, Globe Trekker, Simply Ming, Sara's Weeknight Meals, America's Test Kitchen From Cook’s Illustrated, Doc Martin, Lidia's Family Table, Rosemary and Thyme, P. Allen Smith's Garden Home, The Big Comfy Couch, Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Monarchy With David Starkey, Spain...on the road Again, and other prominent documentaries, dramatic series, how-to programs, children’s series and classic movies. For more information about APT’s programs and services, visit APTonline.org.
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10/1/09
BIOGRAPHIES
Gonca Sonmez-Poole (Writer & Producer)
An American citizen of Turkish descent, Gonca Sonmez-Poole has been a member of the Boston media community for the past 25 years, producing stories for the nationally acclaimed Chronicle news magazine at WCVB-TV in Massachusetts. During that time, the half-hour special she wrote and produced about New England poet/playwright David Budbill won a regional Emmy award for “Outstanding TV series/location” in 1989.
After more than a decade of full-time TV work, Sonmez-Poole branched out into international affairs through her studies at the FletcherSchool of Law & Diplomacy at TuftsUniversity. Since earning her master’s degree, Sonmez-Poole has worked in television both within the United States and internationally, tackling issues pertinent to minority communities on both the local and national levels. Sonmez-Poole was awarded an unsolicited grant from The United States Institute of Peace in 1999. Her other accomplishments include the groundbreaking special for the Boston market on the otherwise unrecognized population of the Roma (gypsies), and a travelogue/documentary she produced about the country of Turkey that was cablecast nationally in the United States in 1992. For the past seven years, Sonmez-Poole has followed the path and mission of The Urban Nutcracker, building relationships with the cast and crew of the show and gaining unlimited access to all facets of the show’s production.
Sonmez-Poole holds a BA in mass communication from EmersonCollege, an MA in broadcasting and film from BostonUniversity, and a mid-career MA in international relations from the FletcherSchool of Law & Diplomacy at TuftsUniversity.
Primary subjects in the documentary
Tony Williams
The founder and artistic director of BalletRox, Tony Williams was born in Naples, Italy and raised in Boston’s Roxbury and Jamaica Plain neighborhoods. After getting into trouble as a street gang member at age sixteen, Mr. Williams discovered a pathway to international success through ballet. He began his early training with the Lithuanian ballerina, Tatiana Babuskina and then received a scholarship from the Boston School of Ballet, where he trained with the company’s founder E.Virginia Williams as well as Sydney Leonard. Mr. Williams joined the Boston Ballet in 1964 and after only three years, he worked his way up to Principal Dancer. Later in his career, Mr. Williams danced with the Joffrey Ballet, Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Gulbenkian Ballet of Portugal and the Norwegian National Ballet. Mr. Williams attributes his success to Sam Kurkjian, Hector Zaraspe, Perry Brunson and Frank Bourman. He also cherishes the direction he received from Arnold Spohr of Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, and from Robert Joffrey, founder of the Joffrey Ballet. He has been teaching in the New England area for thirty years.
Ilanga
Ilanga is one of the original members of the G-Clefs, the doo-wop group from Boston. He is an actor, singer, Afro/jazz dancer and choreographer. Ilanga possesses an extensive trail of show business experience including 25 years of residence in Greece and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Besides dancing the role of “grandfather” in the Urban Nutcracker, Ilanga manages the scholarship program for BalletRox.
Jane Allard
Jane Allard has worked with Tony Williams on the Urban Nutcracker since the first season. Allard trained with the School of Albany Berkshire Ballet and was in the Junior Company. She performed in their Nutcracker and many other ballets. While at BinghamtonUniversity, Allard taught at the Binghamton School of Ballet and danced in their junior company. She also participated in Children’s Dance Theatre choreographing and performing for local schools. Allard works as a Quality Engineer at the Mathworks, Inc. in Natick, Massachusetts.
Yo-el Cassell
The creator of the character “Minimeyer” in the Urban Nutcracker, Yo-el Cassell is trained in mime, viewpoints (SITI) and puppetry. A graduate of the Boston Conservatory, he has performed and worked with The American Mime Theater, Paul Taylor II, Palissimo under the direction of Pavel Zustiak, Spencer/Colton, Julie Taymor, The Virginia Opera, Heidi Latsky, as well as Broadway/Film directors Rob Marshall and Scott Ellis. Cassell has also appeared in the PBS broadcast of Shining Time Station (debut episode) and the motion pictures, What Alice Found.
As a dance educator, Cassell has taught modern dance, movement for actors, composition, performance elements, viewpoints, mime and shadow play at various institutions including The School for Film and Television (NYC), Walnut Hill School of the Arts (MA), The Mercer County School of Performing Arts (NJ - from which he is an alumni) (MA), The Shadowbox Theatre (NYC) and Skidmore College (NY), for which he was a guest artist/teacher in residence. Recently he and his wife co-founded The Horizon Summer Workshop Series in TarrytownNY which educates students in the fields of dance/movement and theater. Cassell is currently developing the first Modern Dance summer program for Boston Ballet and will begin shooting a pilot for a revival of a classic children's series as the title character for PBS.
Dr. Michael W. Shannon
The documentary is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Michael Shannon who died on March 10, 2009 at the age of 55.
A world-renowned pediatric toxicologist and former head of emergency services at Boston’s Children’s Hospital, Dr. Shannon was a trained modern dancer. He began dancing as an undergraduate at WashingtonUniversity in St. Louis and continued at Duke University School of Medicine. He became the first African-American to be appointed full professor of pediatrics at HarvardMedicalSchool in 2004. As an author and senior editor of “Clinical Management of Poisoning and Drug Overdose,” Dr. Shannon was a consummate clinician and researcher who was much admired inside the hospital as well as on stage. He danced the role of Drosselmeyer the Magician in the Urban Nutcracker for eight years, dedicating his last performance to the love of his life, Elaine Shannon.
Janet Moran
Originally from New York, Janet Moran was awarded a full Ford Foundation Scholarship to study at the School of American Ballet under the tutelage of George Balanchine and other esteemed teachers, including Felia Dubrovska, Alexandria Danilova and Stanley Williams. By the age of 14, Moran had danced with the Paris Opera Ballet and started her professional ballet career with Andre Eglevsky Ballet, New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, Birmingham Ballet and Stars of American Ballet. As a ballet mistress and teacher, she has set and coached classics such as the Sylphides, Swan Lake and Giselle as well as contemporary pieces.
Alfonso Figueroa
A native New Yorker from East Harlem, Alfonso Figueroa began his formal dance training at age 19 as a full scholarship student at the Boston Conservatory. He was principal dancer with The Boston Ballet and performed as a featured soloist with American Ballet, Feld Ballet and the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. Figueroa also worked as a choreographer and teacher for The Boston Ballet, Birmingham Ballet, The Peoria-Illinois Ballet and the Latin American Dance Theater. He and his wife Janet Moran founded the New York Dance Conservatory.
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