Week of December 21-25, 2020
To Read
To Watch
To Do
Gift Ideas for ABT Fans!
We explore some of our favorite ABTKids Daily entries from this past year, and share some last minute gift-giving ideas for ABT fans!
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ABTKids Daily
Week of December 21-25, 2020
Experience the excitement of classical ballet at home with ABTKids Daily!
Welcome to ABTKids Daily, American Ballet Theatre’s new home for families and educators to discover digital content for their virtual classrooms. Join us each day to Meet an ABT Dancer, engage with an ABT Teaching Artist, learn fun facts and enjoy ballet-themed activities from the comfort of your own home.
As America’s National Ballet Company®, ABT is dedicated to preserving and extending the great legacy of classical dancing, through exciting performances and educational programming of the highest quality, presented to the widest possible audience.
Join us each Monday morning to bring the joy of classical ballet to your family. A weekly curriculum will be posted for your discovery!
ABTKids Daily is generously supported by
Explore this week’s materials below or view the archive here.
Watch ABTKids 2020: B is for Ballet!
Presented in partnership with Random House Children’s Books,
the program is inspired by B Is for Ballet: A Dance Alphabet.
Meet Dancers Monday
Two Truths and a Lie!
Gift Idea!
In honor of the publication of the Random House Children’s Book Boys Dance!, we celebrated the passion, enthusiasm, and dedication of all the young boys that have fallen in love with the art of classical ballet.
Young readers can enjoy both Boys Dance! and B Is for Ballet, available now.
Order Now!Teaching Artist Tuesday
Join one of ABT’s Teaching Artists as they introduce you to ABT and its ballets. Learn a dance, stop and sketch, and don’t forget to have fun!
Up this week: ABT Teaching Artist and ABT JKO School faculty member Leann Underwood!
The Nutcracker - Snow
Gift Idea!
Leann is one of the distinguished ABT alumni on the faculty for the Open Division Adult Ballet Classes, available to adults ages 16 and up. Give a class pass to your favorite aspiring dancer!
Explore Open Division ClassesWhat’s up Wednesday
Putting it Together: The Journey to Opening Night
Of Love and Rage had its World Premiere on March 5, 2020 at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California. Enjoy a rarely-seen time-lapse video capturing the entire process of bringing this amazing production to life for the first time!
Take the Of Love and Rage Challenge
Hit play on the video and see if you can put together your Of Love and Rage puzzle before the curtain goes up!
Gift Idea!
For the ballet fan that loves getting a peek behind the scenes, consider the gift of membership! ABT members enjoy special access to content and events. Family Memberships are available too!
Explore MembershipsThrowback Thursday
Edward Verso
Join ABT legend Edward Verso as he describes his first performance in Jerome Robbins’s iconic ballet Fancy Free, and what happens when the audience knows the choreography better than you!
Gift Idea!
Any fans of ABT’s rich legacy will love American Ballet Theatre: A History! Produced by American Masters for the Company’s 75th Anniversary, this comprehensive documentary is available now on DVD.
Order Now!Funtime Friday
The Nutcracker Cake Pops (and a Puppet Show Too)
by Emily Hayes
The Nutcracker Cake Pops
Simple Vanilla Cake
Ingredients
1 cup White Sugar
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter
2 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 3/4 tsp Baking Powder
3/4 cup Buttermilk or Whole Milk
Pinch of Salt
Preparation
Butter and Flour one 9 inch round cake pan and preheat the oven to 350F.
Cream the butter and sugar together until it is light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add in one egg at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Add half of the dry mixture into the wet mixture and stir until just combined. Repeat with the second half of the dry mixture. Add the buttermilk and beat until just combined. Spread the batter into the lined cake pan and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes.
Simple Vanilla Buttercream
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 cups Powdered Sugar, Sifted
2 tbsp Milk
Preparation
Whip the butter until creamy. Slowly sift in the Powdered sugar one half cup at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the milk and vanilla and mix until the icing is smooth and silky.
Assembly
After the cake has fully cooled, crumble it into fine pieces. Add in a little bit of icing at a time until the mixture holds together when it is formed into a ball. Form the cake pop mixture into your desired shapes and let them chill in the fridge for 10 min.
Heat up a small amount of candy melts or chocolate and prepare the lollipop sticks and foam board. When the cake pops have finished chilling, take a lollipop stick and dip one end into the candy melts. Push it into the cake pop about half way and wipe off the excess chocolate. Stick the lollipop stick into the foam board to hold the cake pop upright as it sets.
Melt some more candy melts in your desired dipping colors and add in a small scoop of paramount crystals or shortening to thin out the mixture. While the cake pops are slightly cold and the candy melts just warm, dip them head first into the chocolate. Rotate and lightly tap off the excess for a clean polished look. Let the cake pops set at room temperature.
Decorate your cake pops however you would like! Sprinkles, chocolate, candy, fondant and much more. Get creative and happy baking!
