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<small>[ 12-08-2002, 15:32: Message edited by: Azlan ]</small>

Just before the alarm bells ring, the article tells us that they don't start pointe work until 12.<P><B>Girl, 11, on her toes to be a ballerina</B> <BR>Like most little girls, Alyssa Jendusa dreams of her future. She yearns to be a dancer - a ballet dancer, a ballerina - who will perform gracefully in classics such as Swan Lake, or even The Nutcracker. <BR>Don Clasen, for Lake Country Reporter<BR> <P>The 11-year-old is already literally on her toes to achieve her dream. She's worked seven years to make her dream come true. Her mom and dad, Carrie and James Jendusa of Stone Bank, have cooperated since Alyssa was 4, when she first told of her future desire.<P>"I just wanted to try it (ballet)," said the skinny, but lithe youngster, who has braces on her teeth. She says she learned of ballet from the mother of a friend at the Stone Bank School she attended.<P><A HREF="http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1399&dept_id=173059&newsid=2765562&PAG=461&rfi=9" TARGET=_blank><B>click for more</B></A>

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Bless the elves Backstage, 'The Nutcracker' moms and dads keep the peace
By Sally L. Hickey for Fox Point/Bayside/River Hills Herald


Spin with me past the glare of the footlights, where the audience can't see moms and dads scurrying to prepare tiny dancing feet to invade fairyland for the Milwaukee Ballet Company's production of "The Nutcracker."

Young dancers, disguised as angels, geese, dolls, Mother Ginger or party children, are sent off by parents to their professional debuts, to take their places beside ballerinas and danseurs with magic in their shoes, princes and princesses whom they'll never forget. It all happens in the current ballet production running through Dec. 29 at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, 929 N. Water St.

About 120 aspiring young dancers, including many from the North Shore, will dance into the enchanted land this holiday season. Backstage, several parents take cues to help ensure the production goes smoothly.

North Shore parents went into action almost immediately after attending the parents' meeting in early October, where rules and duties were spelled out.

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<small>[ 22 December 2002, 12:03 PM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>