Ballet West II: Snow White

Snow White was one of the classic fairytales that I had never seen performed as a ballet, and my introduction to this production was sweet and pleasant. Ballet West II, joined by students from the professional training division and the Ballet West Academy, brought the story to the stage as the fourth installment of the company’s Family Classics series. Through this platform, ballets are edited down to approximately 90 minutes and feature lively narrations created with young audiences in mind. The previous three installments must have been very well liked; the Capitol Theatre was buzzing with youthful energy thirty minutes before the doors to the house were even open. 

The story is one you know well and this version mostly stuck to it, but with less emphasis on Snow White’s small seven friends and more courtly scenes than the Disney version. Clad in luscious costumes in shades of teal and gold, the court dancers grabbed my attention from the moment they appeared on stage. The couples confidently and elegantly waltzed around each other in sweeping unison, eliciting a large applause for an impressive lift during the finale. 

A requisite of fairytale ballets, the forest creatures were a crowd favorite and received many exclamations of “aww” each time they appeared on stage. The rabbit in particular had a fan base that grew with each double tap of its foot and shimmy of its hips. 

Snow White herself was as fresh-faced and unassuming as you’d expect a fairytale maiden to be. She had lovely stage presence and yet was eclipsed by the strong demeanor of the evil queen. Costumed in a stunning dark green gown (to represent her envy towards her stepdaughter, no doubt), the evil queen convincingly maintained the posture of a vain villain throughout the performance. Even from the balcony, I could see her lifted chin and sense her side eye as she snubbed each character she passed.

Two men guised as the Brothers Grimm comically pantomimed to the recorded narrations, which played before each scene was performed. I appreciated this duo and applaud their ability to elicit laughter from the children in the audience (as well as several giggles from myself - a critic of anything on the verge of hokey). What I loved most about this structure of short narrations between each scene was that the pantomime of the Brothers Grimm matched the pantomime of the dancers who appeared on stage afterwards. It was a very clever way to help children (or older audience members who aren’t familiar with dance) understand how movement can be used as a form of language. 

As a childless patron, I was a bit skeptical about attending such a family-oriented event and wondered how and/or if the content would be adjusted for its intended audience. I enjoyed the performance, and would argue that a reduced length and plot-clarifying narrations are a great way to get new audiences, regardless of age, interested in attending the ballet. 

Alexandra Barbier is a dance artist and performance-maker. She is a modern dance MFA candidate at the University of Utah and has taught courses on creative process, queer performance art, and dance in culture.

Ballet West II: Beauty and the Beast

In 1991, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast was one of the first movies I saw in theatres. The 2017 remake is a favorite of my 6 year-old. She and I jumped at the opportunity to see Ballet West’s ballet version during their annual Family Classics series.

After fielding 25 or more “What’s happening now? Who is that? They aren’t in the movie!” comments from my young date during the performance, I realized how colonized the fairy tale is by the Disney version. A $3 bottle of water at intermission effectively silenced both of us (albeit for different reasons), and we were soon transported by Ballet West’s perfectly-paced iteration.

This 60-minute Beauty and the Beast had less villagers and more magical quirk. Intermittent spoken narration and creative use of magical objects helped thread the tale together. Pamela Robinson Harris and Peggy Dolkas’ creative choreography was masterfully performed by Ballet West II artists accompanied by students and the Professional Training Division of the Ballet West Academy. Kudos all around to the lovely dancing, which impressed everyone in the audience, this writer included.

Though all the dancers were truly outstanding, Victoria Vassos as Evil Fairy and Alexandra Terry in the role of Beauty were my standouts. I loved the shifting cast of love duets, sometimes with Terry (Beauty) and Robert Fowler (Beast), at other times Vinicus Lima (Prince) and Terry (Beauty), and still another lovely moment between Lima (Prince) and Tatiana Stevenson (Beauty’s double). My favorite ensemble moments featured the 12 castle statues in gray dresses and white wigs when waltzing together at the ball and out of a wardrobe with several of Beauty’s dresses. (“How did they learn all those steps?” my date wondered.)

Central to this story were the material objects of the classic fairy tale. Whether it was a magical glove that transported dancers from one scene to another, the unique use of transportational mirrors, or the satisfying flounce of David Heuvel’s tutus, I was left considering the imprint of the objects of our daily lives, and how everyday things become imbued with power on and off stage.

From conception to performance, Ballet West’s Beauty and the Beast is a welcome reminder that this tale as old as time has as many variations as any fairy tale should.

Liz Ivkovich is the Development Director for UtahPresents.

Ballet West: Aladdin

On Thursday night I went to Aladdin with my mom. Before I saw the dance, I saw the movie and they are different. In the dance, characters have different names -- Aladdin’s monkey is called Malik, Jafar is called The Sorcerer, and Princess Jasmine’s name is Kalila. The dance is also different because they defeat the Sorcerer by making him a rat instead of turning him into a Genie.

In the dance there are two genies -- the genie of the lamp and the genie of the ring. The genie of the ring is small and he was my favorite character. The way he was called was cool -- the dancers crossed their hands and twinkled their fingers. The little genie danced sharp and serious.

Other kids might like the Sorcerer because he wears jewels and has an evil laugh. They might also like the parts with a camel and snake because kids like animals and they were cool and funny. The snake dancer had a fake snake head and wiggled her arms. The camel had one dancer at the top and one at the bottom and they kicked their legs.

The part I liked best was the fighting with swords and the machines that made it smoky.

Other kids might not like the wedding because it’s the longest part and the most boring, even though the dancers were pretty. Other kids might be confused about why the narrator says there are slaves dressed in pink, that didn’t seem like slavery to me, but it is a fairy tale.

I think kids should go see Aladdin because it’s only an hour, there are some funny parts, and the dancers did a good job.  

Anderson Garrett is a first grader at Washington Elementary; he has taken creative dance class at Tanner Dance and tap at Janet Gray Studios.

Ballet West’s annual Family Series is designed to present a complete story ballet with just an hour running time. Ballet West II dancers perform alongside Ballet West Academy students in Aladdin through this Sunday, October 22nd: https://balletwest.org/events/aladdin2017.

Ballet West II: The Little Mermaid

Avila, my five-year-old, and I went to a recent matinee performance of Ballet West’s The Little Mermaid. We both enjoyed the gorgeous dancing, and at a one hour length, it was just the right amount of time for a Saturday afternoon.

Snippets of narrative from Hans Christian Andersen’s original fairy tale helped guide the story, keeping both of us engaged in the magic. I was impressed with the integration of a multi-age cast from Ballet West II and the Ballet West Academy. The women were all stunning, especially Eliana Vogel, a young little mermaid, and Brittany Rand as a sensuously evil Sea Witch. The foppishness of the male characters made me laugh out loud, adding to the overall charm of the work. For example, I loved Niko Yaroslaski’s interpretation of the ambiguously religious priest/rabbi figure in his brief appearances 1) randomly and in a very worried manner helping the prince off the beach after his shipwreck, and 2) abruptly emerging to officiate the wedding.  

The plot is more along the lines of the original fairy tale than the Disney classic, which sparked some lively discussion during the show. Here are a few quotes from Avila:

“Everyone is a really, really good dancer.”

“I like the mermaids when the little one goes to the surface.”

“I like how she saved the prince.”

“Why didn’t anyone tell the prince that it was the little mermaid who saved him, not the other girl?”

When the little mermaid’s sisters trade their hair for a knife for the little mermaid to use to kill the prince and win back her tail, Avila loudly suggested that the little mermaid should just kill the prince’s new wife. I thought that put an interesting Fatal Attraction-esque lens on the whole story.

Avila drew this picture of the ocean waves and sea foam, seamless duets and quartets danced by the Ballet West Academy Professional Training Division, both of our favorite part.

Drawing by Avila, 5 years old, inspired by Ballet West II's The Little Mermaid.

Liz Ivkovich is the editor of the print edition of loveDANCEmore. She is putting her MFA in dance (Utah ‘16) to work for the University of Utah’s Sustainability Office and Global Change & Sustainability Center.