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A classic tale
YOUNGSTOWN
A classic fairy tale — with a twist — will come alive when the Ballet Western Reserve Center for Dance Education unveils performances of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” at Stambaugh Auditorium.
Choreographed by BWR Artistic Director Richard Dickinson, the performances will be a unique opportunity to introduce young audiences to ballet and classical music, Dickinson said.
With school performances at 10 a.m. Thursday and Friday, a public dress rehearsal Wednesday and two public performances Saturday, the production will feature several shows to appeal to area youth, but also audiences of all ages, Dickinson said. The school performances are made possible — in part — through funding from the Ohio Arts Council.
“I’m taking this story [Snow White] and making a ballet out of it. It’s a good story, and I think it has a lot of things that would make it a good ballet — through contrasts like drama and comedy and drama and happiness,” he said.
Dickinson, who has worked with BWR for the past three years, said he has been motivated to choreograph “Snow White” since he helped stage a performance with the Hawaii Ballet Theater in 1993.
Crafting the fairy tale into a full-fledged ballet production featuring a cast of 89 BWR students — ranging from ages 3 to adult — has been hard work, yet Dickinson said he enjoys the challenge and the satisfaction with putting his ideas in motion.
Performing a piece such as “Snow White” as BWR’s signature event is also an opportunity for BWR to dabble in uncharted waters; for the past two years, the dance company performed “The Nutcracker” as its signature show.
Dickinson describes BWR’s “Snow White” as a modern twist on the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale.
Instead of Snow White and the prince meeting near the end of the story, as they do in the classic version, they encounter each other earlier.
Moving up the encounter allows the prince and Snow White to develop more of a relationship and to spend more time dancing together.
Dickinson also weaved additional drama into the production by casting BWR senior students Dorie Chevlen and Patsy Maxim to play the roles of both Snow White and the Evil Queen opposite each other.
Akron native Gary Lenington will be this production’s guest artist, dancing the role of the prince. A professional dancer since 1993, Lenington has danced several soloist and principal roles for the Richmond Ballet in Richmond, Va., and Ballet Florida and now dances with the Verb Ballets in Cleveland.
One of Dickinson’s biggest challenges with “Snow White” was finding just the right music to accompany the production.
He finally decided to use works from Russian composers Alexander Glazunov and Vasily Kalinnikov, two classical composers he heard one day while listening to National Public Radio.