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The aftermath of the 1908 Race Riot in Springfield gave rise to the formation of the NAACP.
Dr. Wesley Robinson-McNeese recalled a scene where he was swimming with some Air Force buddies in the waters off Biloxi Beach in Mississippi in the late 1960s.
A stranger pulled up in a pickup truck and, producing a shotgun and hurling epithets, promised that he was going to blow away McNeese, who is Black, if he didn t get out of the water. My friends said, Wes, you’re a soldier, you don’t have to do that, McNeese remembered. I said, He’s not aiming the shotgun at you guys. He’s aiming it at me.
By Kevin Hart
Dec 9, 2020 2:58 PM
This year in the absence of a production of Tchaikovskyâs Nutcracker Ballet, The Springfield Ballet Company has teamed up with Storyteller Studios to create a truly wonderful documentary about the history of the Nutcracker in Springfield, and its impact on the community. Through Claraâs Eyes takes the viewer through decades of local history interviewing women who have danced the part of Clara (the main character in The Nutcracker) locally and what the experience meant for them.
The documentary opens with several dancers in masks dancing part of the ballet while the women featured talk about the experience. Then we see footage of some productions from years past while Artistic Director Julie Ratz, Director Emeritus Grace Luttrell Nanavati, and Ballet Mistress Gina DeCroix Russell talk about the history of the ballet itself, the beginnings of the Springfield Ballet Company, and their own personal experiences with The Nutcracker. If