A Holiday Tradition
Joy Engel, a retired ballerina, choreographer, and dance teacher, has been leading a Nutcracker workshop for elementary school children in the Katonah-Lewisboro School District for over twenty-five years.
She didn’t let moving from Lake Katonah, New York, to Aiken, South Carolina, stop her from doing the work that she loves.
Long-time resident returns to lead Nutcracker workshop
Engel recently returned to New York to bring the Nutcracker to life for second graders at Meadow Pond Elementary School. Using the score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and key costumes from George Balanchine's classic holiday ballet, the students participated in a mini-production of the Nutcracker ballet in their classrooms.
“This experience really prepares them for the Nutcracker performance that they’ll attend at the Westchester County Center in White Plains,” said Jill Walsh, one of the second grade teachers.
“My Nutcracker Ballet Workshop started when I volunteered to lead the workshop for my son's second grade class—over twenty-five years ago--at Increase Miller Elementary School,” said Engel. “I have taught the workshop almost every year since then in the Katonah-Lewisboro School District and many other districts. I look forward to leading the Nutcracker Ballet Workshop again next year!”