TOTS BOUNCE, BALANCE, AND BOUND WHILE LEARNING BALLET BASICS AT SC CHILDREN'S LIBRARY NUTCRACKER WORKSHOP

Photographs by Joe Stroppel and Northwordnews

Children bopped, bounced, balanced, and bounded to the sounds of Tchaikovsky at the Sea Cliff Children's Library's Nutcracker Workshop this past Saturday morning as they were introduced to the story, dance, and music of the Christmas-time classic, as well as to ballet as an art form.   

Sea Cliff resident Dan DiPietro, donning a wig, cape and top hat, played the role of Drosselmeyer, the eccentric nutcracker bearing godfather, and Children's Library Director Ann DiPietro, the Mother Ginger.  

After Mr. DiPietro offered a lesson in ballet basics and some of the steps that would be used during their performance, the young students, taking turns playing the roles of Clara, the children, the soldiers, Mouse King (Queen), mouse army and Sugar Plum fairy, were guided through the story - marching, dancing and twirling their way through each scene.  

Once again, Sea Cliff resident Fred "the Maestro" Stroppel DJ'ed the event - this time with a more-up-to date sound system replacing the boom box of past years. 

The DiPietros have organized the event each December for just about two decades with hundreds of children now having participated