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.