Springfield Ballet presents the whimsical tale of "Snow White" at the Landers Theatre, 311 E. Walnut, April 24-26. Snow White, the Seven Dwarfs, and all your favorite characters appear in an original ballet production that is "one of the most enchanting stories we could possibly tell," according to the Ballet's Executive Director Evan Bennett.
"The story doesn't just follow Disney. We pull some things from the Disney version, but a lot of it also comes from the original version of Snow White. I think we forget that it hasn't always been 'Disney-fied!'"
Three choreographers collaborated on this new work: Springfield Ballet Associate Director Frances Elkins; Artistic and School Director Ashley Paige Romines; and Ballet School instructor Kerry Allan. "They each took different portions (of the story), and that has worked really well--it's blended really well," says Evan Bennett. He notes that this is not Springfield Ballet's first original work. "Doing original works has been part of our strategic plan. A couple of years ago they did Alice in Wonderland; last year we did Cinderella; and this year, Snow White."
Bennett describes the cast as "fairly large--we have 100 people onstage," from age 4 up to the professional guest artists. They'll dance to pre-recorded music tracks selected from a wide variety of composers and works, such as Donizetti's opera Elixir of Love--actually versions of the tunes that were re-written in the 19th century by various (mostly French) composers and used in other ballets of the era. And, says Bennett, "some of it is actually completely modern works that you can find in Public Domain."
Performances of Snow White will be Friday and Saturday April 24 and 25 at 7:30pm, with matinees Saturday and Sunday the 25th and 26th both at 2:00pm on the Landers stage. For tickets call the Landers box office, 869-1334 or www.springfieldlittletheatre.org; for information on Springfield Ballet call their office at 862-1343 or visit www.springfieldballet.org.
