A Magic Moment

After an hour and a half of boisterous Christmas and Hanukkah songs, the holiday show at Dixie Canyon Avenue Elementary School ground nearly to a halt.

All but the slightest movement stopped. The spotlights froze. Children on stage remained utterly silent and still.

But this was no grade-school glitch or awkward, cough-filled pause. Rather, it was the showstopper: a live re-creation of artist Winslow Homer’s famous 1873 wood engraving “Snap the Whip,” complete with children decked out in bloomers and newsboy hats in front of a red schoolhouse backdrop.

The performance, modeled after the annual “Pageant of the Masters” show in Laguna Beach, featured first- and second-graders who posed for a couple of minutes exactly like the subjects of the engraving. Other schools have taken on similar projects in the past, but few have attempted it with children of an age when playing statue is hardly second nature.

“We wanted something that would say something about children, that would be uplifting,” said Sue Robinson, director of Dixie Canyon’s performing arts program. Homer, whose engraving depicts exuberant youngsters playing a childhood game, is “an American artist, and has a lot to do with our aesthetic.”

After the idea for the performance was born in the fall, a group of parents and children volunteered to paint the rustic backdrop of wildflowers and rolling hills, which stretches across the length of the stage. The next task was casting the “characters.”

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“We originally had all fifth-graders, but they ended up being too tall for the set,” Robinson said. “So we went out and had a hunt for the shortest kids in the school.”

Pulling off the tableau vivant was an attainable goal, considering Dixie Canyon’s reputation as a performing arts stronghold. Entertainment industry parents often move to the affluent neighborhood in Sherman Oaks so they can send their children to the public school.

People connected with the school also give of their time. George Wyle, the 80-year-old composer of themes, including that of television’s “Gilligan’s Island,” played piano for Wednesday’s show and has worked frequently on productions at Dixie Canyon, his son’s alma mater.

Annette Grable, who coordinates visual arts activities at the school, said about 30 volunteers teach art at Dixie Canyon. In introducing “Snap the Whip” on Wednesday, Grable stressed the powerful impression art can make on young students.

“The painter is able to intensify our experiences. That was the goal of Winslow Homer,” she said.

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No amount of artistic appreciation, though, could keep the young performers from feeling the strain of staying absolutely still.

As the curtain opened on the scene and the glee club stood on nearby risers to sing “What a Wonderful World,” second-grader Zachary Guimont appeared to have the toughest assignment. While others grabbed a neighbor’s waist or bent over slightly, he had to keep one leg bent in the air for the duration.

“It’s hard going like this,” Zachary said, contorting his leg crazily after a recent rehearsal. “I need a footrest.”