Sunday, Dec. 18, 2005 | 8:36 a.m.
Parking is insane.
The Little Turtle Theatre inside of the school's main entrance is standing room only. Audience members line the back wall with video cameras strapped to their hands.
The young choir sings "Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel" to the beaming audience. Actors backstage prepare for a full performance of "The Nutcracker."
"It's a weird feeling," said Sarah Sloane, contemplating the concept of stage fright and, in her show makeup, looking much older than her 8 years. "A lot of people are out there."
Alana Ure, a fifth grader who plays Clara, stood next to Sarah. Calmly. She's used to this. Yet she still anticipates a mishap. She'll miss the Mouse King when she throws her slipper, she said. She missed him in rehearsal.
Other actors show little wear from their two-hour rehearsal. The soldiers are playing Scrabble.
There isn't a theater company in town that puts out this many productions. Theater is the centerpiece at Imprints Day School, 8815 Tamarus St. The plays reflect the curriculum. Each month a new play on a specific country is written, choreographed and presented by the students, who also help design the sets.
"It can be intense," theater director and music teacher Maria Thompson said. "But they work at accelerated speeds. They brainstorm.
"They like the New York City Ballet's George Balanchine production, but also ETA Hoffman's book," she said about the students preferences on "The Nutcracker." So they tweaked it to what they wanted. They took out the dance numbers from the first part and made it strictly acting. There's not just one sugarplum fairy. (There are several).
"Obviously, the adaptation is not truly the ballet. It's everyone's talent put in the right place," Thompson said.
Or, as Imprints co-owner Lillie Englund explained, "We try not to produce stars. We want every child to explore things."
You realize Imprints Day School is a different kind of elementary school by the stack of New Yorker magazines on the bookshelf in the hallway, and by Sydney -- the owners' Australian shepherd -- wandering freely.
At Imprints, there are no textbooks. Students read the classics, study art and academia with a global focus. Competition is discouraged. Exploratory, creative and collaborative behavior is encouraged.
Theater week is always exciting.
"It gets very busy," teacher Pat Whitney said. "You can just feel the change in the atmosphere. It gets very energetic. Everybody gets a little bit nervous, especially the teachers."
Life experience
Englund founded the private school with Sheri Kaminski in 1998. The two had worked together at La Petite Academy and wanted to continue working in an enriched educational environment.
"The whole point was to have an early childhood experience that looked at everything," Englund said. "Art is the beginning of literacy. Music is the beginning of math.
"I was a social studies teacher in a high school. It's important for people to have a cultural sense, not just a patronizing attitude.
"They need to tap into their own talents, own abilities, own thinking."
Englund grew up in Norwich, Vt., and went to high school in Hanover, where Dartmouth College influenced the education system and the town set an example for the students. She and Kaminski set out to create a similar environment.
The school is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. In addition to drama, they focus on life experiences: gardening fruit trees on the small campus; campovers on the playground, where families pitch tents; Hungarian folk singers; and a drum-building workshop.
Each year there is an art auction of students' work, complete with bidding paddles.
With everything, participation is key. Students are part of the decision-making process. Teachers are "facilitators of learning."
Davina Todd, a former dancer for "Siegfried & Roy," teaches movement and dance and "fine tunes" dances that the students create. Students in grades one through five present the plays. The younger students participate in stage movement and choir.
Academically, the school is custom-designed: If a first grader knows third grade math, the student will not be stuck doing first grade math.
Global theater
R.J. Lloyd, a fifth grader playing the role of Mouse King in "The Nutcracker," said math is his favorite subject, but it was theater that drew him to Imprints.
"I love theater, that's why I chose this school," R.J. said.
He had interviewed other schools, including one in the northern valley that he liked, he said.
"I asked, 'Where's the theater department?' They said, 'They didn't bother with one.' I said, 'Well, I won't bother with you.'
"It made the lady mad. I was 6 at the time. I'm 11 now so I've been here (most) of my life."
R.J. has played as many as seven roles in one play, but "The Nutcracker" is a whole different animal.
"We've never had props like this before," he said. "We've never had a Christmas tree before. The light over there, that's for shadow.
"We've never had a fight scene. When we did 'Japan,' we fought with plastic swords and we were just doing form." Slowly nodding his head, he added, "This is the biggest and the best."
The students wanted to present "The Nutcracker" this year and did so within three weeks of their decision. A presentation about Norway is in February, Turkey in March, Thailand in April and Belgium in May.
They also plan to end the school year with a performance of "The King and I."
"The kids, they love the stage. They love this kind of work," said Joana Pratt, who works in scenery and set design and taught for 12 years in her native Colombia.
"With Peru, we saw different videos and the kids drew different pictures for scenery -- proposals for possible backgrounds and we use the different backgrounds.
"It's more interesting when you learn about the country with music and culture," she said.
Reina Gormley, whose daughter, Honor, and son, Josh, attend Imprints, said the global focus is a plus.
"Our kids were born in London, and I'm from the Netherlands, so it's nice for them to focus on the world at such a young age, to know that there's more than Las Vegas," Gormley said.
Besides, she added, "I think it's great for them to stand up in front of a group of people and get out there. It's something they can take with them for the rest of their lives."
Englund said she believes that when students experience this kind of environment, they develop a deeper sense of who they are and what they need.
"They can think and ask questions," Englund said. "Just to have a Susanne on your staff -- not only is she an artist, she knows dance, classical piano. She brings all that to the kids."
Susanne Forestieri, an artist, originally from New York, has been with the school since it opened. Her students have studied dozens of artists from Monet to Pollack to Warhol and have children's books on the arts.
"They learn art history and visual thinking strategies," Forestieri said. "They've been to all the museums in town."
Second grader Katie Poppick appreciates art, but lives for the theater.
"I might be an actress when I grow up because I really like being on stage and acting."
R.J., too, might pursue theater. Because he is in fifth grade, the final year for students at Imprints, he was able to choose the role he wanted in "The Nutcracker."
So why Mouse King?
Pointing to a silver sword, Lloyd smiled wryly and said, "I get shiny stuff."
Kristen Peterson can be reached at 259-2317 or at [email protected].
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