One, two, three, four.

Get my shoes then out the door.

Five I'm alive, six, seven, eight feelin' great.

Nine, gonna shine, life is good I'm doing fine.

Ten, Gonna do it right then do it again.

Yeah yeah.

I look up to the sky with all the beautiful color but, there's more than just for me so gonna share it with another.

I got to show, to give, let out, I want to sing and shout.

Take a look and see A beautiful morning that turns into beautiful evening.

And together make a beautiful life.

And if you want see, then come along with me.

That's right.

Hello and welcome to experience Michiana My name is Irish Dave.

We were wondering how many people would honk the horn as we do the introduction to the show this week.

So I said four.

So that's a one we've had.

So I'm here outside the Learner Theater in Elkhart.

Courtney went here this week to find out about their holiday windows.

She also had breakfast with Buddy, talking about Buddy the Elf because the musical is going to be here.

This Christmas and an experience for your family as well, which is really cool.

But first, we're going to Kelly in South Bend to the Southold Dance Theater to find out about this year's performance of The Nutcracker.

Today, we're at Southold Dance Theater, and we are so excited for two reasons.

Number one, it's Nutcracker Season.

And number two, we are so excited to have the new executive director of Southold Sara Taylor Well, I mean, congratulate you.

I hear this is really a full circle moment.

It is.

It just gets me emotional thinking about it awesomely.

I started here at Southold when I was nearly three years old, under the direction of Bonnie Bellini Baxter, who was one of the founders of Southold Dance Theater.

I get to walk through some of the very studios I started at here and had my own observation weeks, and I get to observe our amazing students and help them grow and learn as just individuals and human beings and represent this organization.

Absolutely.

Now, what was your experience like even when you were here three years old?

Oh, my goodness.

It was an awesome time.

Bonnie is a really special person.

She taught us about the importance of following our passions, being involved in the community in Southold, being a pillar in the community as far as arts go and a standard that people should look at.

And I'm just a really loved dance and show others how much you love dance and what it can do for you.

She instilled in us how dance can take you very far.

And also there's different genres of dance that you can explore.

And we had a lot of great exposure growing up here, so it did a lot for me.

There were also challenges sometimes being the only like one or two black or brown faces here.

But also, dance was an outlet for all of us that we all came together for a passion that we all had.

And it didn't matter who we were here.

It was all about dance.

Couple of things.

First of all, I want to talk about the importance of dance and the importance of arts to us as individuals and as a community.

Yes.

Now, you did not go on to become a professional dancer, necessarily, but how did that form a wonderful foundation for you as a human?

Oh, I think dance builds a lot of things for you as far as your mind goes.

It takes care of you emotionally, physically, spiritually as well.

It got me through some tough times or challenges in life as well as like happy times.

There's tons of memories.

I also got to dance at IU Bloomington, under the direction of Professor Iris Rosen, African-American dance company.

That's how I got back rooted in dance and also helped her with her full professorship.

We did a dance suite with her as she was applying to do that.

We still keep in touch.

It's like my dance mama.

She opened her new studio in Indianapolis.

Now, after she's retired.

And just like dance takes you so far, you have so many different experiences.

Like we like to instill in the students here, Carlene and Fiona and some of the other instructors that we have here.

A faculty is amazing and they have dance connections and like to bring those to our students because it just really grows.

You dance like that passion and if you let it take you, it can take you far.

Whether you dance professionally or not.

It just creates a different type of experience.

Expressing yourself, making the community see what you can do also brings a source of pride and also a sense of tradition.

It makes them want to get up and move sometimes or even just clap along.

It's a sense of camaraderie and it just creates something really special.

It's almost indescribable.

Yes, that is so true.

Now, you also mentioned about being one of the only brown faces there.

What was that like for you?

Sometimes it was lonely, to be honest, but other times it was really cool because it let you see that dance is one of those things like dance and music.

I say understand when even words can't express what you're trying to say.

When the music has words or not, whether you're dancing with or without making sounds.

It's one of those things that can be a connecting piece and also make level ground between people.

Because if you love dance, that's something that you already have in common.

It's also a way that you can have a means of getting on the same level as someone else as well.

Now, Sara, I get the sense that you are the first African-American executive director here, and I just get the sense that it's like you want to pinch yourself because it's a dream.

Come true.

I see the way you interact with with everyone here, and you just seem like you've just really found this wonderful purpose in your life right now.

I have.

I love it here.

We are like a family.

It's awesome watching the dancers interact, the camaraderie they have among each other.

Right now, we also have free male tuition, so that's grown.

Our male population greatly.

We've gone from five or six males to 21.

Carlene most special male only technique classes and dance classes and getting to watch them during observation week and seeing that encouragement from the youngest students to you have Frederick encouraging them and Alistair at the highest level that we have our company and also getting to see the young ladies look up to others like Caitlin was sharing.

And there is segment like the next generation.

They literally look at them in awe and they're now wondering, Oh, I wonder if that's how the dancers before me felt when I was looking at them.

But it's such a beautiful thing to see and it's growing them as little human beings that are growing up.

You see them walking with confidence when they receive a compliment from one of those older dancers or a pointer that they try to get something different and and do it better.

And that encouragement, it's going to stick with them for the rest of their lives.

Yes, it is.

Now, lastly, what is your vision for Southold moving forward?

My vision for Southold is that we continue to be a welcoming almost I've described as a melting pot for the community.

We're already more than what meets the eye and for a long time we rested in something being one of the best kept secrets.

And if you rest in that too long, you can't create enough awareness.

And if people don't know that we're here, we can't leave a proper legacy.

And it's something that deserves to be celebrated.

It's something beautiful that's been created here and something that's creating traditions.

As far as The Nutcracker goes and beyond and we're setting historical marks is as far as our dancers are going right now.

We have a lot of people that go on to summer intensive programs.

We have Fred going to the Prix de Liaison in Switzerland in January as one of only five US males chosen out of over 429 applicants.

We have students that are reaching higher heights and they are feeling welcome, taking care of holistically.

And that's what I love to hear.

I see also like growing and striving and thriving and just spreading what dance can really do as far as we enrich lives through it.

We are fostering growth and we are building community.

We are Southold is our new hashtag.

Yes, we are Southold.

Well, I have to say that we as a community are so grateful and so glad that we have southold here in the community.

So thank you so much for joining us and congratulations to you.

Thank you so much, Calin I cannot believe we are here talking about The Nutcracker.

It was just it felt like just yesterday we were here talking about Cinderella and it was this spring.

And here we are approaching the holiday season.

Yes, it's an exciting time for the entire community.

And we are presenting our annual Nutcracker as every year.

This year is extremely special because we are partnering with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra this year after over 20 years.

Wow.

That is really exciting.

It is a really exciting now, what is some of the challenges that that may pose?

Well, right now we're just very excited to be again, part of this experience with everyone else in the community, because if you're thinking about it, you have to actually drive for over 100 miles to be able to experience a nutcracker with the symphony that we have here in town.

Challenges.

Challenges are always there.

It doesn't matter if they are with a symphony.

Without a symphony, we're always way into challenges.

But at the end, we present the best product that we have.

Well, it's very exciting performing to live music.

Have you had a chance to rehearse together yet with the symphony?

Not yet.

Not yet.

Our first rehearsal is on the Friday before the shows, on Friday before the show.

So that's cool.

So do you have like the music that you're you're you're at least rehearsing, too, right now?

Yes.

Right now we have our music that is played on the recorder.

And then hopefully the symphony is going to be able to replicate that, you know, to the best of their abilities so we can feed our dancers and and make them look as good as ever.

Oh, I'm sure it's going to be a wonderful experience.

It really always is.

And it's one that the community really looks forward to.

What are some of the things along with the symphony that might be a little bit different this year?

This year, we along with the symphony actually, we have a couple of guest artists that they will perform on Friday night.

We have a male dancer that comes from Joffrey Ballet and then a female dancer that comes from Cincinnati Ballet.

So they're coming from the two end of the spectrum meeting in South Bend for one time performance on Friday night.

Oh, my goodness.

Well, that is exciting.

Now, right now we have Frederick and Caitlyn.

Now, of course, you're the Prince.

Is this your first time performing this role?

No, I performed it last year for the first time.

For the first time.

How was it for the first time?

I was a little nervous.

Yes.

Good.

And so what is the dancing, the role of the prince like?

Well, it's a little stressful because it is the title role, but it is also amazing to be able to just go out and perform and just do what I love with knowing that everybody's looking at me.

And how long have you had to to practice to do this role?

About three months this year and last year, about six months total.

All right.

And Caitlyn, you are going to be understudying Marie right now.

Who else do you dance in this production?

Flower trio Arabian Lead and snow core.

Okay.

And how long have you been dancing, Caitlyn?

Since I was eight.

Eight and has always been here at Southold Yes, eight.

Oh, my goodness.

So I'm sure that you have grown in The Nutcracker playing different roles.

How has that experience been like for you?

I've loved it.

It's so fun to see the next generation do the roles that I've done before.

I can't believe she's talking about the next generation.

I'm standing here like, Oh, that next, next, next couple of generation.

But that that's really one of the things that makes it so wonderful.

It makes it such a family event.

How has the rehearsal process gone for you right now when it's going really well?

And we still have a couple more weeks to put everything together, so we're looking forward for that final week at the Morris and now who plays the role because I know Ticket Phelps has played that many years, the one with the big skirt and everybody comes out of this mother.

Ginger.

Yes.

And I think that role has been transformed.

I am not using a mother ginger anymore.

Oh, I'm using a great wizard instead.

Oh, so there are spells instead of the Polish Chanels that are dancing around the wizard.

And every year we have members of the community that they are playing this role.

I believe that we're still working on acquiring those people.

One of them I know for sure that is Justice Zimmerman, who is the executive director of the South Bend Symphony Orchestra.

Oh, my goodness.

That is exciting.

Now, what are the days that the performances are going to be happening?

So the performance is going to be happening on Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday at 2 p.m.. All right.

And I know this is one event that sells out so quickly are tickets are still available?

I think tickets are still available through the Morris box office.

Oh, wonderful.

Well, you don't want to wait because as I said, this event sells out quickly.

It's one of those events that it just brings the holiday spirit right to the community and right to your family.

For more information on tickets, you can also go on to experience Michiana dot org.

Oh, before we end, I hear that we're going to have a performance.

Are you guys going to be dancing?

Okay, what are you dancing?

This snow path from first act.

Okay.

All right, well, take it away.

Fredrick and Caitlyn.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Well, if you like candy canes, candy corn syrup, I know somebody else who does, too.

My favorite buddy, the elf Oh, Can I give youa hug?

Oh, yes.

I needed a hug today.

I am so excited you guys are putting on the Elf musical here at the Lerner.

Yeah, with Premier Arts, we're putting on the musical.

It's a story all about me, and it's going to happen December 16th through the 18th right here.

And there's going to be an all youth version two of a little buddy, and that's going to be on Saturday, the 17th at 3 p.m..

Awesome.

Awesome.

And Craig, this is a really exciting thing to have.

You guys always do a Christmas special in December.

What does that do for the community here?

Right.

It's such a wonderful opportunity for people to come together as a family and kind of have a tradition of coming to the theater and bringing their kids.

And so it's you know, it's really a fun thing.

And I have to say, all the years that we've been doing this, this might be the most fun.

Okay?

I mean, it might be.

Yeah.

But we're feeling love here.

I feel the fun right here.

This all the jingle bells.

I hear the verse Sparkle jolly twinkle, jingle all Yes, it is love This is great that you guys are doing an adult cast, but also a children's cast too.

How does that come into play?

How does that work?

It's really a fun opportunity for the actors because, you know, there's obviously a big buddy and a little buddy and they kind of mentor.

You know, the little buddy has taught this one so much, so much.

He's got a degree from Juilliard.

You know.

And so not only do they get to, like, watch the older actors and kind of interact with them, but they also get to perform for an audience, almost sold out audience of their peers.

So with elementary students coming from all over the region to see a field trip production of ELF, what a great thing to do in the middle of our school year.

And so the kid seeing kids their own age on stage just inspires the next group of kids who want to be on stage themselves.

So we love that.

Absolutely.

And Buddy, how long have you been doing theater?

Well, this is technically my first musical.

I've never really been on stage.

It just kind of you know, I came from the North Pole.

I found my dad and now we're telling the story about it.

That's awesome.

So how similar is it to the actual movie?

Can you just share a little bit of that with me?

Well, you know, it's pretty spot on.

It's pretty close.

We take a little artistic liberties just because movies are different than the stage.

But so we're able to do basically everything you love about the movie is going to happen on stage.

That's amazing.

And I can't wait to see it now.

I haven't seen the musical before, but I'm a huge fan of Elf the movie, so I have a little Twitter page ad right now.

I get a little fangirl.

So excited to be here for this, but you guys have a lot of other stuff and the kind of the whole community here in Elkhart is kind of grasping on to this particular show.

Why is that?

Well, I think it's like you said, so many people just adore the movie.

And so, you know, when you kind of have that reference point, then you come and see the musical, which is different than then.

You know, there are certain things that are different, but there's some, I think some heartwarming surprises when they musicalize things, you know, sometimes, you know, we like to say that we when words are no longer enough, we turn to music.

And so that's what this play has done.

In some instances.

It's good.

And so that's a, you know, kind of a cool thing for to introduce people to and of course, just having something to do with your family.

It's a holiday that's wholesome and fun and and affordable and really creating an experience and a memory that they'll never forget.

Absolutely.

And how can people get tickets?

Is there still tickets left?

Hardly.

But I bet you we could find one for you.

How do we get tickets, buddy?

You can come here to the beautiful Lerner Theater at the box office.

Or you can call the box office, or you can go to your website.

Premiere Arts dot org.

Hey, it's right here.

In case I forget, you go right there.

But we also have some other cool things where you can hang out with me if they want to.

I am so excited for this.

Tell everyone about it because if you love spaghetti and syrup and candy and candy corn, you can't talk.

Gotcha.

So there's breakfast with Buddy and that's going to be December 17th.

That's the morning of our Saturday show just for the show here at the Lerner Theater and then go to premier arts dot org, get a ticket and there's three different times.

And so you can have breakfast with Buddy and hang out and I'll read a story and we'll just have a good time and get lots of sugar.

So it is definitely a sugar coma day.

Well, yeah, that's the five, four or five major food groups, so you have to get them all.

And then next Saturday, actually December 3rd at Winter Fest, all of downtown Elkhart is going to celebrate the holidays.

And there's only so much going on, including a free showing up out of the movie right here at 3 p.m..

Okay.

So you can get a little preview of what's to come at the live action format.

And I might even stop by.

Oh, all these chances to hang out with Buddy.

Everybody's favorite guy was stop You're my favorite.

Oh, you're my favorite.

What am I,?

your premier arts.

There you go from there, everybody's favorite all year long.

Let's not forget it is such a great thing that you guys do for the community.

Is there anything you want to give us?

A little tip of what's coming for 2023?

2023 is an exciting year for sure, and so many ways for people to get involved.

One of the things I love about Elf is that we have a whole bunch of dads.

I think their kids must have like made a bet with them or something.

You auditioned and they did.

And so the elf cast is full of like these dads who've not done shows maybe ever or since high school.

It's I know there are so many people in our community who were so engaged in music and and theater in high school.

But then, you know, you get a job and you get a family and you get away from it.

You don't have to.

You can come right back to it.

And we're doing things like Beauty and the Beast, The Wizard of Oz next year and so a lot of fun things, 9 to 5 The Musical.

So it's a fun thing to check out.

Premiere Arts Org has all the details about season tickets and about how you can get involved on stage backstage.

And of course, we always need a full house.

So love and you just love the theater.

You want to come be an audience member, too, and I love that too.

You know, something that is particularly special about what you do here is this is a one weekend event.

Yeah.

So as far as first of all, you can get volunteers that really helps them be able to still continue off with their regular responsibility and give them that shorten time to just devote to being a cast member.

Yeah, it's super fun and it's really a family affair.

You know, people come in like moms and dads and grandpa and grandma.

I mean, like the whole family gets involved.

Some people work backstage, some people are on stage and this kind of a cool thing to do.

Well, you can get your tickets and Buddy will be there waiting for you.

See you soon.

So I'll see you on December 17th and throughout that whole weekend.

Absolutely.

Awesome.

Well, we're hanging out at the Lerner, rather, outside the Lerner because there is big stuff happening here.

These big, beautiful window displays are going on and this has been going on for a couple of years now.

Michele It has.

So we started this during the pandemic.

The Lerner is just such a beautiful place at Christmastime and we always just decorate the inside looking just so beautiful and very festive.

And when we couldn't gather during the pandemic for all of our holiday programs because, you know, there's gathering limits.

And so we wanted to bring Christmas to our community.

So I just kind of tapped into our network.

We have some amazing people that help make the Lerner as special as it is and premier Arts was one of them.

And so we created the idea of the Christmas windows that anyone and everyone can come see and enjoy.

That's amazing.

And it is all on display here.

How many windows you have?

Total we have five total windows.

We'll see if we can expand it next year.

Oh, okay.

I see.

Like vertical.

high I can see things expanding here.

And what is the theme this year?

This year, it's one of my personal favorites.

Buddy the Elf.

So I think this is just something that is really just kind of elf like all over the place.

So Premier Arts is doing elf and we have a pre showing an elf and we figured why not just incorporate the elf window?

So this is so exciting.

Oh my gosh.

Oh, SANTAS COMING!

SANTA I mean, you can love your today.

You have to love it, right?

That's really what it's all about, right?

Getting people in the holiday spirit, getting them downtown and over the downtown of Elkhart is just so special.

And it's really just the anchor of the community.

You know, we call the learner the crown jewel of Michiana.

And this is just really what brings it all together.

So it's just fun to be able to do this.

And we've kind of deemed this our love letter for our community.

So we love that.

Oh, that's very nice.

Now, what have you guys said in the past two years then?

So the first year that we did it, we did Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, okay?

And then last year we did storybooks that, you know, famous storybooks, Madeline's Christmas and Charlie Brown Christmas.

And, you know, each window had a different Christmas storybook.

That's wonderful.

This is so amazing.

And I think something special about it.

The artist that goes into this is really well connected to what else is going up or totally is Tanner Smile who you just met.

Buddy the elf, he's just he's so multifaceted and he was the one that created and designed the window.

So, yeah, I'm sure a lot of man hours went into the elf hours You know, it takes a village.

It really does.

And we have some fantastic partners and the sponsors that were behind it, we're just this is all about our community.

Yeah, absolutely.

Awesome.

Levon your representing the Chamber of Commerce, this is such a wonderful thing that you guys do here for the community.

Why is it so important to have something like this?

Well, the learner is such an important part to Elkhart.

It's at the core of the city.

And obviously the stronger the core of your city, the stronger the city is as a whole.

And so having the lights here, the buddy display here brings more traffic down to this area.

We've got a really vibrant downtown and people love coming down here.

And this just adds to it and adds to the excitement of the holiday season and it kind of makes it feel big city, if you will.

Well, we like to say we've got the best little big city in the country.

And people are excited to get here and see this.

And it just adds to it.

The lights that we have on light poles down here, eventually you'll be able to hear the but in the buddy movie playing as you walk down.

Yes, absolutely.

So it's just it is just a great addition and a great new tradition to downtown Elkhart So I'm going to give you a suggestion now.

I want you to start pumping out what candy cane smell.

So when people walk by, they get all of those senses.

I tell you what, if you walk just a block down the road and get in front of the dutch kernel, which is the popcorn shop, I guarantee you you smell the popcorn and all the flavor getting there.

Now, this is the third year this has been going on.

How has this been perceived both from businesses as well as from the community, too?

You know, we're right next door and it's fun to watch people come in from all over and just come and they may be walking fast till they get here, but this slow down to slow the stroll really lets people get into the mood of being in the holiday season, but it also brings them down to see all the different merchants that are down here from boutiques to eateries to all sorts of different wares and things.

It's an exciting thing for downtown Elkhart and just another opportunity for us to invite people in and be a part of what's happening here.

And, you know, summertime is usually a shopping busy time, but really, especially during the holiday time, it's all about those small businesses.

Absolutely.

You know, we've got Thanksgiving on Thursday and Saturday.

We go into small business Saturday and we've got small businesses that are thriving all over Elkhart and in this region as a whole.

And anything that we can do to help it enhance the experience because shopping's an experience, but it's about the experience and anything that we can do to enhance that experience as they come into downtown Elkhart is is a bonus.

That's wonderful.

Well, hey, if you want to check it out, come on, head on over to the learner and you can walk by and check out all the beautiful artwork that's going on here.

I love that.

This week on the show, we were able to highlight two of the area's best theaters.

I think we have such wonderful theaters here from The Morris to The Lerner, so make sure you head along to all of those performances this holiday season.

I'm so disappointed.

I only got one honk the horn here in Elkhart today.

All right.

Don't forget that if you see something, if you go and experience something that you think we should experience, then make sure to follow us on Facebook, search for, experience Michiana then send us a direct message and say, hey, Dave Kelly and Courtney, I think you should go out here and check out this and we'll go because we love having fun.

There's always lots of stuff to do here around Michiana and you can make sure that you'll see it here on experience Michiana.

Experience Michiana is made possible in part by the Community Foundation of Saint Joseph County and the Indiana Arts Commission, which receives support from the state of Indiana and the National Endowment for the Arts.

This WNIT local production has been made possible in part by viewers like you.

Thank you.