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Story by Debralee Santos and Adrian Cabreja
Photos by Catherine Fonseca
The uptown Wintergarden performance space become the domain of sugarplums and fairies, as thirty members of the New York Theatre Ballet performed selected pieces of "The Nutcracker" for pediatric patients and their families at noon this past Thurs., Dec. 1st.
For those young children undergoing treatment and therapy at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, many of whom are not able to leave the hospital, having the classic holiday favorite come to them proved a remarkable treat. For the young patients unable to leave their rooms, the dancers made rounds to visit with them.
One such patient was 17 year-old Nohelly Munoz, a cardiac patient who had the opportunity to enjoy Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s classic front and center.
“It was very pretty. I really enjoyed it,” she said. “I was interested in the performance from the beginning.”
When pressed for her favorite part, Munoz demurred, laughingly. “No, I really liked the whole thing.”
Munoz would know, as it turns out she has been a ballet dancer herself, and would hope to soon be back at the barre herself.
What is about the ballet?
“It’s a very athletic activity,” she said, and added, a bit dreamily, “and, it’s the music.”
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