ODC’s ‘Velveteen Rabbit’ a formative experience for Bay Area schoolchildren     

The Blue Shield of California Theater at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco will jump with excitement, and rabbits, as ODC/Dance presents the 37th renewal of KT Nelson’s dreamy “The Velveteen Rabbit.” 

Based on Margery Williams’ century-old tale of a boy’s love for his stuffed rabbit that comes to life, the dance-theater production runs in December, with public performances and free shows for students in under-resourced elementary schools offered through ODC’s Buddies for Bunnies program.

ODC bookends the show — featuring an easy-on-the-ears score by Benjamin Britten, narration by Geoff Hoyle, and company dancers portraying memorable toy-chest characters including an elderly horse and jaunty alligator — with interactive mini-movement lessons, which have proven to be very popular. 

“Kids are natural movers and interaction increases their engagement in the show as well as enhances their attention span,” says ODC founder and artistic director Brenda Way. “To create the greatest number of audience access points, the onstage production was envisioned to include the full range of communicative forms: narration, movement, songs and the classic Britten score. Getting the audience to move with the dancers is the final act of enticement.”

Interactive energy is a part of the B4B curriculum, which, Way says, dovetails with the creativity central to ODC’s mission. And the program provides both short and long-term benefits. 

“This show is based on invention and ingenuity rather than lavish settings and is designed to stimulate youthful imagination,” Way says. “For perhaps a majority of our third-grade B4B youngsters, it is their first theater experience. We take seriously our role in developing future audiences for dance and in the healthful impact this exposure has on youthful mental, physical and intellectual development.”

In 2005, ODC formalized its process for providing subsidized tickets to schoolchildren to see “The Velveteen Rabbit” under Buddies for Bunnies.  Since then, the program has grown and its mission expanded, says Zackary Forcum, ODC’s director of institutional giving. 

“The educational components have shifted and evolved over the years, and around 2017 the program’s educational components took on new depth with lesson plans for teachers and post-performance activity books for students,” Forcum says. “Later, we made this curriculum available not only in English, but Spanish and Chinese, two of the most-spoken languages by students in San Francisco’s Mission and SoMa districts.” 

This year, ODC is sponsoring attendance and transportation for students at 12 schools for performances on Dec. 5 and Dec. 7-8. In addition, some large school groups not under the auspices of B4B will attend public performances.

Some 1,530 students are expected to participate in B4B 2023. Over the years, the number of students served has been dependent on how much money ODC raises; sometimes the program’s goal is not met.

“Support for the program from community members, corporate entities and governmental agencies has vastly shifted over time,” Forcum explains. “While we have had some key individual supporters who have stuck with us from day one, it feels like many others take programs like these for granted.” 

In 2022, ODC had to internally subsidize 90 percent of the program due to a loss of state-government funding.

“It was a responsibility we took on with the full knowledge that doing so in the future would not be sustainable, especially as theaters across the country are closing their doors due to lack of ticket sales, Forcum says. “We did so in this instance because we understood that coming out of the pandemic required certain sacrifices to uplift our community.”

In addition to tickets, B4B offers valuable pre-performance instruction, says Bob Armstrong, art coordinator at Buena Vista Horace Mann school, whose second and third graders have participated since 2007. 

“For many of those years, KT Nelson would come with an assistant to our school and do a preparatory session with our students before they saw the theater performance because they study dance at our school as part of their enrichment curriculum,” Armstrong says. “It’s great to receive instruction about how the ballet is made and then to visit the theater and see the actual production in person.”

And while ‘The Velveteen Rabbit” remains a festive way to celebrate the holiday season, its accessibility to the community likely lends it a far more enduring quality.

“Under normal circumstances, the vast majority of our children would never be able to attend ‘Velveteen Rabbit’ due to limited economic means,” Armstrong says. “By reaching out to our community, which of course is also their community since they are located in the Mission District, ODC has promoted not only a love of dance but an opportunity for equity for our students.” 

Public performances of ODC/Dance’s “The Velveteen Rabbit” are Dec. 2-10 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 700 Howard St., San Francisco, and Dec. 16-17 at Douglas Morrisson Theater, 22311 N. Third St., Hayward. Tickets are $30-$120, with discounts available. For details,  https://odc.dance.