NEWS
PATH

169-00 : FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE , December 5, 2000

MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR BY NIGHT, STAGE DAD BY DAY: PATH WORKER GUIDES DANCING DAUGHTERS TO THE LINCOLN CENTER STAGE--PISCATAWAY PRODIGIES PERFORM IN NYC PRODUCTION OF "THE NUTCRACKER"


John Burkhard of Piscataway, N.J., always knew his daughters were destined to be dancers, even as toddlers, because the two girls would begin to move whenever they heard music. That was more than just a proud father's dream. This Christmas season, Burkhard, an overnight General Maintenance Supervisor for the PATH rapid transit system, and his wife, Marives, can see both girls perform in the New York City Ballet's holiday production of "The Nutcracker" at New York City's Lincoln Center.

First to win one of the coveted roles in this holiday classic was their older daughter, Jan, now 13. She practiced diligently at Fran's World of Dance in Piscataway, N.J., for five years until she was discovered by a guest teacher who immediately recognized her special gifts and urged her mom and dad to take her to Lincoln Center's School of American Ballet. Jan was accepted into the school and, after attending classes for a year, asked to audition for the production of the New York City Ballet's "The Nutcracker." She earned a spot in the children's corps.

"We were all very proud and excited," said Burkhard. "The year before she was accepted, we took the kids to see "The Nutcracker" at Lincoln Center. During the performance, Jan said she wanted to be on that stage someday. We never dreamed that a year later she would be part of that very show."

Jan danced with such distinction as part of the corps that in 1998 she was given the lead children's role at age 11, during her second year with the company. She performed in that role for two years until she was forced to relinquish it due to a sudden six-inch growth spurt. Now 13, she still dances in The Nutcracker but portrays a dancing candy cane.

Ojela, the little sister Jan had left behind at Fran's World of Dance, practiced and prepared to enter the spotlight. After putting in five years she, too, was accepted at the School of American Ballet in 1999, where she was asked to audition for The Nutcracker almost immediately. "This was very impressive," her father said. "Few children are asked to audition during their first year at the school. They usually are asked to wait until the second year as her sister was."

To the delight of the entire family, this year nine-year-old Ojela will pirouette in her big sister's footsteps. She will take on the principal children's role just as Jan did two years earlier.

The overnight work hours of both parents have made it easier for John and his wife, who works as a night nurse for Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, to shuttle the girls between dance lessons and rehearsals in New York City, and their home and schools in New Jersey.

The Burkhard family has lived in Piscataway for the past 11 years. The young ballerinas have a brother, Timmy, age 10, an avid Little League baseball player. Jan attends Conackamack Middle School. Ojela attends Knollwood Elementary School and Timmy goes to Martin Luther King Elementary School.

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