Making Books Sing and Ballerina Swan Inspire Children to Twirl in Their Seats

From NYC Dads Group co-founder, Lance Somerfeld:

Reading books with my son is one my favorite things to do.  I believe I’m an actor – I make silly sounds, use different voices for each character, and try my best to make the books come alive and leap off the pages. For this reason, I’m such a big fan of the “Making Books Sing” organization who have a mission to take engaging children’s books and bring them to life through theater productions.

Last weekend, my family and I had an amazing experience.  We had the opportunity to meet Allegra Kent, former NYC ballerina and author of the children’s book, Ballerina Swan. Allegra and I had a wonderful discussion about her dance history, passion for writing, and how Ballerina Swan became her first children’s book.  My son and I enjoyed reading the story together before entering the theater for the kick-off performance of Ballerina Swan. This theater is perfect for children because every seat in this intimate theater gives you a prime view of the performance.

Lance and his son read “Ballerina Swan” before seeing it come to life in the theater

“Ballerina Swan, a 50-minute family show blending dance, theater, and puppetry, tells the story of Sophie, a Central Park swan with dreams of becoming a ballerina and dancing in Swan Lake.  The production features three dancers and a dancer/puppeteer who operates a five-foot dancing swan puppet.”

There were several highlights in Ballerina Swan I wanted to point out. About midway through the show, the children in the audience were asked to participate and dance a routine at their seats. My son was so thrilled with the twirling, bending, and jumping around that he expressed interest in doing more ballet in the streets after the performance.  Additionally, the swan puppet is a true masterpiece- one of the coolest puppets I’ve ever seen and captivating to the entire audience.  Finally, the messaging in the story was inspirational: a character who was different and didn’t have things come easily had such passion, drive, and curiosity that both kids and adults could identify with and root for as they followed their dream.

We’re looking forward to seeing what’s next from Making Books Song!

Hanging outside before the show, Ballerina Swan

Lance & family with author, Allegra Kent, and playwright, Barbara Zinn Krieger

With the cast of “Ballerina Swan”