Take A Seat at The Walton Arts Center; The Velveteen Rabbit, An Elementary Perspective

Bentonville students and leaders at the Walton Arts Center

On a bright January afternoon in Fayetteville Arkansas, CWE365 participants filled over 60 seats at the Walton Arts Center. A ballet interpretation of the Velveteen Rabbit had elementary aged girls and leaders mesmerized with dance, fun costumes and a whimsical story. Thanks to the generous “Take a Seat” program offered to us by the Walton Arts Center, we were able to provide this unique and captivating experience to young students. Each girl expressed happiness about being given the chance to see dance and story combine into something special. We interviewed one student in particular, Jeslynn of Bentonville, about her take on the ballet.

Jeslynn, what did you like about the Velveteen Rabbit?

“I liked, well my favorite part was when the fairy pops out and turns the velveteen rabbit into a REAL rabbit. So the whole story is that a little boy gets a Velveteen Rabbit for Christmas, right? And then he only plays with it for two hours that day. And then one day when he goes to sleep he couldn’t find the china dog that always slept with him. So the mother, what they call Nana, who was in charge of the toys, tidied them up, cleaned up the boys room, she said “here take your old bunny and that was the VR. So the boy slept with him, first the r felt a little uncomfortable because the boy kept rolling on him, like sleeping on him, squeezing him a little too tight. Then the rabbit got used to it. Now, he’s played with him for summer, winter, spring and then one day the little boy gets sick. And can’t do anything. He had something called Scarlet Fever. Scarlet Fever is a really bad sickness; it is contagious. He gets better. But the Velveteen Rabbit and other things he’s touched have to get burned because they have his Scarlet Fever germs in it. And then the little Rabbit sheds a tear because he doesn’t want to be burned. A flower grows in that spot. And it grows and grows and a fairy pops out! And she turns the Velveteen Rabbit into a real actual rabbit, and he goes off to play with the other rabbits. He comes back to play at the little boy’s house, to see him. The little boy thinks that it used to be the Velveteen Rabbit; That there was something familiar about that little rabbit. He didn’t know that rabbit was the REAL rabbit!”

How can you tell the boy loved the rabbit a lot?

“His fur was being rubbed off, his eyes lost color… the rabbit began to lose shape.”

Why did the Fairy decide to make the VR real?

“Because the rabbit, as I said earlier, was shabby torn losing shape. She could tell the boy loved him very much. The nursery magic told him that he was real.”

Would you have turned him into a real rabbit?

“Probably!”

Would you recommend this to your friends to come see?

“It’s really good, I think my friend would really like it. I have a friend who loved the Velveteen Rabbit…”

Do you think you could ever learn to dance like the dancers in the Velveteen Rabbit?

“Yes… I want to be a drama girl when I grow up… [I would have to] practice hard, get dancing lessons, get funky costumes!”