BERLIN — Growing up as artsy kids on the Eastern Shore of Maryland was not an easy thing for Fawn Mete and Nicole Brushmiller, who grew up in Berlin and Salisbury, respectively. There were only a handful of programs, and even fewer programs catered toward more advanced levels of a particular art-form like dance, theatre, or music.
Yet, these days, both women are trying to make sure artsy kids on the shore have the capabilities to not only learn these cultural art forms, but also to experience them at a high level as well. Mete, who is the director of the Red Doors Community Center, has helped spearhead a growing number of arts related programs at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church by the Sea in downtown Ocean City for the past several years, and Brushmiller is the vice president and one of the founding dancers of the Eastern Shore Ballet Theatre, which will be performing at the Ocean City Performing Arts Center on Saturday, April 9 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Brushmiller and Mete sat down with The Dispatch this week to talk about the importance of arts education and cultural literacy through performance art in our community and their drive to make sure there are programs for the next generation of artsy kids on the shore.
Q: You have been a part of the Eastern Shore Ballet Theatre since its inception 25 years ago. Talk about that organization and how that helped you sort of find “your thing?”
NB: Betty Webster, who is the founder of the Eastern Shore Ballet Theatre, and is also the owner of the Salisbury Studio of Dance, came to the Eastern Shore probably 60 years ago, and was one of the very first dance studios to open. That was always her dream to have a performing, classical dance company that was semi-professional, but it took her a long time to get there.
I was in middle school when she finally got to the point where she had enough people in the community to help her form a board. She went out and sought grant money and even used some of her own money to get that going. For me, it took dance to a new level. I went from regular dance classes a few nights a week with a recital at the end of the year to actually putting on these big productions.
I remember our first Nutcracker was pretty intense. We basically had to memorize an entire ballet from scratch. Our artistic director, she had an amazing life. She was Ukrainian, and had danced professionally before kings and queens in her day and had opened professional dance companies in the states, and we somehow got her in Salisbury, Md. She just had these amazing dances in her head.
Q: Fawn, you are also a boardmember of the ESBT, in addition to your work at the Red Doors Community Center. As you were growing up, tell me about your journey and the existence of the arts and what are you trying to create (with the Red Doors) that perhaps wasn’t there before?
FM: I grew up in Berlin and I have a very arts-centered family. From a young age, I was always around the arts and I learned that it had a great value. For me, my big love of the arts came from dance and theatre and that was something that I was exposed to fairly young, maybe 9 or 10. I started dancing in Berlin at the only place where there was to dance, which is where the town hall meetings are held now I think. It was a dance studio/karate dojo and was open for a few years. So, that’s kind of where I got my start and when I really fell in love with it I had to travel to Salisbury three times a week.
It was my favorite thing to do and it was worth it to me and worth it to my parents, who took me there three times a week. I was also involved as much as I could with anything theatre related. I was around Gwen Lehman [former SDHS theatre teacher] early on and was involved in her summer theatre program and went to Stephen Decatur as well so I was always impressed by the level of the program there, and just loved being around a stage, even if I wasn’t on a stage. There weren’t huge amounts of opportunities to do [art], but there were a few things that were around then that aren’t around now, but I think there are many more opportunities now.
Q: Talk about how both of you are trying to foster a new generation of kids and tell me about the type of things you see a need for in the community as far as arts programs?
FM: I think one of the reasons we both choose to live in Worcester County is because of the great public school system here and we love the opportunities our kids have through that school system. There are definitely dedicated educators that really make arts a priority and really try to integrate it, and prioritize it, and make those opportunities available even though the focus of education nationwide and statewide has kind of had to shift to results driven, performance data driven, math and science, reading analysis results. Nicole and I were both public school teachers at points in our lives. The arts are still there, but in order to really explore that, just like if you are really into sports, you have to seek it outside [the area.]
So, that was a big influence for me when I started the Red Doors Community Center. My children were very young when it started, and a big part of the [programming] came from a desire from other parents for the kids to be able to pursue different things, especially performing arts. We started with dance, and that’s kind of our bread and butter, but it’s expanded to include theater, vocal workshops, instrumental classes like piano, and guitar and violin from time to time, visual arts classes, cooking, crafts, science technology, engineering. We really try to be very responsive to what parents in the community want for their kids. There are other great organizations that offer some of those things, but we try to fill in any gaps when parents come to us and say ‘this is what we want, and we haven’t been able to find it.’
Q: So, the Snow White show this weekend is the first time the Eastern Shore Ballet Theatre is performing in Ocean City. Talk about the fact that there is now a proper venue in town where kids who have honed their craft and put in hard work, can perform for the community. What’s the impact of having a room like the PAC for the arts?
FM: It’s so exciting that Ocean City has made the investment that it has in order to have a state-of-the-art facility and that they have been welcoming to community organizations and have worked with us, since the ESBT is a non-profit organization, the city has made a lot of efforts to make sure that we don’t have to be a national recording artist to afford to put on a show there. We are just really excited to bring these type of shows to Ocean City. The ESBT is a regional ballet company. It’s pre-professional dancers and we bring in some professionals for some of the lead roles, but it is of the caliber of any ballet that I’ve seen. I’m so impressed that we have this resource, but the home has been in Salisbury for 25 years, and because of that, outside of Salisbury it hasn’t had quite as wide of a reach in Worcester County or in other areas of the Eastern Shore. Hopefully, by performing in Ocean City for the first time, we can open up to new audiences in a venue that just feels like it was made for ballet. There’s not a bad seat in the house, the acoustics are great and I think people will be really impressed with the costumes and the staging and the overall professionalism of it.
Q: Nicole, as Fawn mentioned, the ESBT is a bit of an unknown entity to folks here in Ocean City. What should people expect from the show and what excites you the most in having the opportunity to see the ballet company perform on that stage?
NB: I think people will come away from the show and say ‘wow, I didn’t expect it to be that good. I didn’t expect the dance level to be as skilled as they were, I was impressed by the scenery and the costumes, everything.’
I think when people think Eastern Shore Ballet Theatre, they’re thinking that it’s almost a step-up from a dance recital and that’s all they are going to expect. So, people will be impressed. The nice thing about Snow White is it’s a good family style ballet. It’s a great introduction to the classical ballet. It will tell the story that we all know. It will have some comedy in it, and the character dancing will keep everyone watching. I remember I took my son to see the Nutcracker when he was two or three and he sat through the entire show. With these type of ballets, you can expose your kids to the classical style of ballet but in a way that they are going to enjoy it from start to finish.
Q: That brings up an interesting point about the philosophical question about cultural literacy. You both work with kids every day and oftentimes, you are able to enlighten them and show them these classical arts, whether its dance, or music, or acting. Is that interest there in these children? Do they light up when you expose them to these kinds of things, perhaps more so, than adults?
FM: I don’t think we should underestimate children because things like classical music or ballet, which are often considered high-brow culture, have captured children’s entertainment for centuries. I think it’s only been recently, I think, that we’ve started to decide that small children don’t have an attention span and can’t take these shows in and get some sort of value out of it. I think they will surprise you.
Q: But, if these types of arts or the idea of cultural literacy is perhaps less important to the everyday person, does it put a strain on organizations like the ESBT or the Red Doors Community Center to continue to offer it to the portion of the public that still wants it very badly?
FM: I think the arts are incredibly important and some of our local governments and municipalities have seen that value. The arts can be an economic driver and an economic force for a town like Ocean City, in a region that relies on tourism. You’ve seen the town of Berlin and the renaissance it’s had in recent years and there’s been a big focus on the arts. This is a place where we want to be known for being artistic, and for supporting art and all things local. The arts fit right into that.
(Editor’s Note: To purchase tickets to this weekend’s event, click over to www.esbt.org. To listen to this conversation, click to www.mdcoastdispatch.com/podcasts)