EDGEWATER -- When two ladies-in-waiting hiked up their skirts so no one would see the snobby princess kiss the swineherd prince, the giggles and whispers erupted throughout the school cafeteria."Did you really kiss the prince?" piped a youngster during the play's question-and-answer session.
Sure enough, the New Smyrna Beach High School drama student and princess of the hour -- better known as Rachel David -- laughed out a "yes" from the stage at Edgewater Public Elementary.
Stirring interest about acting at a young age is important to the high school drama students, who performed in an adaptation of the "Tales of Hans Christian Andersen" at the school Tuesday.
In hopes of opening young eyes to the future of acting, the teenagers also made their rounds to another three Southeast Volusia elementary schools throughout the week.
"If we get them interested when they are that young, they might push for programs like that," said Danielle Moses, 17, who was seen dressed as a swan this week, soothing a similarly costumed ugly duckling.
And it seems to be working. A show of hands after the students' performance revealed more than 60 of the elementary school children were eager to pursue acting.
Edgewater Public already has about 38 children involved in the school's 2-year-old drama club.
Drama Club member Dillon MacDermant said seeing the high school students perform was a good primer for what's to come and what he might be doing when he is their age.
"It kind of looks kind of easier," the 10-year-old said.
It also helped him gear up for a play called "Grammar Gulch" he said the group will doing next month.
The western-theme performance will use bad grammar as weapons, said Dillon's twin brother, Dallas.
For many in the club, it will be their first time acting.
Kendra Blazi, the high school students' drama teacher, said she thinks it is great that the elementary pupils are already learning about acting and plans to attend the show with her students.
"I am so glad that they are doing it," she said. "They are one of the only schools around here that actually has a viable drama club."
Blazi said all elementary school children participate in some form of performing arts, but as they make the transition to middle school and high school their involvement drops off dramatically. In fact, after elementary school, Blazi said, only between 15 and 20 percent of children participate in performing arts, a statistic discussed widely at a recent recruitment strategy workshop she attended for performing arts teachers.
So rather than focus their outreach to just middle school, as they had been doing in the past, she broadened their recruitment to include elementary this year.
kelly.cuculiansky
@news-jrnl.com
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