In the grand scheme of things, the Blue Springs Ballet’s presentation of Peter Pan is just what you’d imagine it would be.
There’s that Peter Pan character, the forever-young hero who battles the infamous Captain Hook in Neverland. There’s Nana, the children’s nurse, as well as the family dog, and Tinkerbell – that helpful but sometimes troublesome fairy who follows Peter Pan where he goes.
But it’s when you see Wendy’s sisters – not brothers – and the Lost Girls that you begin to realize things are a bit different.
“We’ve done full performances of other classics, like Cinderella, and that was challenging,” Melissa Morris, director of the Blue Springs Ballet and Performing Arts, said. “This will be just as challenging.”
Approximately 75 dancers will be part of the production, which will run for two nights – Saturday and Sunday – at 6 p.m. at Blue Springs Civic Center at Blue Springs High School. Tickets are $7, 9, and 11 and can be purchased at the door or at the company’s Main Street studio.
For the most part, the story remains the same. What’s new is the first part of the show, described by Morris as the evening’s “appetizer,” an introduction, if you will, to what will follow after. Morris said many of the individual and group performances in both halves of the show will be performed by some of the younger dancers at the center.
“There’s some original choreography throughout the show,” Morris said. “I think that’s one of the highlights people will notice the most.”
By including students as young as 6 in the performance, Morris said that will give them a chance to learn and participate in performance that is typically done by older dancers.
“It’s a valuable experience for them,” she said.
Music included in the Peter Pan show will include classical numbers, as well as contemporary and jazz pieces.
And in case you’re wondering, both Peter Pan and Captain Hook will be played by a females – Olivia Johnson and Tiffani Key, respectively.
“A lot of people don’t realize that the popular (1960 version for NBC) was played by a woman, Mary Martin,” Morris said. “But the crocodile is played by a man, and so are some of the lifts.”
This weekend’s spring performance continues a tradition at the Blue Springs Ballet and Performing Arts. Every other year the company puts on such a show, and each time organizers and teachers try to make it as physically challenging and as aesthetically pleasing to an audience as possible.
“I was just thinking about shows we put on back in 1992,” Morris said. “Time flies.”
Morris opened the studio in 1992 after directing a ballet program for 10 years at The Dance Institute. Since then, the studio has become a popular option for parents who want their children to learn not only the art and craft of ballet but the benefits of physical activity.
Regardless of the economy.
“The shape the country is in now,” she said, “really hasn’t affected us here.”
Morris said the company continues to enlist a consistent number of students. Business is good at the 5,000-square-foot facility, which has two large dance rooms and a children’s music round studio. There are classes in creative movement, pre-ballet, ballet (beginning and advaced), pointe, stretch and technique, variations, adult ballet, jazz, pilates, and lyrical.
The company still performs “The Nutcracker” annually for audiences, a tradition since 1993.
For more information about the performance or the studio, call 224-5505.
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In the grand scheme of things, the Blue Springs Ballet’s presentation of Peter Pan is just what you’d imagine it would be.
There’s that Peter Pan character, the forever-young hero who battles the infamous Captain Hook in Neverland. There’s Nana, the children’s nurse, as well as the family dog, and Tinkerbell – that helpful but sometimes troublesome fairy who follows Peter Pan where he goes.
But it’s when you see Wendy’s sisters – not brothers – and the Lost Girls that you begin to realize things are a bit different.
“We’ve done full performances of other classics, like Cinderella, and that was challenging,” Melissa Morris, director of the Blue Springs Ballet and Performing Arts, said. “This will be just as challenging.”
Approximately 75 dancers will be part of the production, which will run for two nights – Saturday and Sunday – at 6 p.m. at Blue Springs Civic Center at Blue Springs High School. Tickets are $7, 9, and 11 and can be purchased at the door or at the company’s Main Street studio.
For the most part, the story remains the same. What’s new is the first part of the show, described by Morris as the evening’s “appetizer,” an introduction, if you will, to what will follow after. Morris said many of the individual and group performances in both halves of the show will be performed by some of the younger dancers at the center.
“There’s some original choreography throughout the show,” Morris said. “I think that’s one of the highlights people will notice the most.”
By including students as young as 6 in the performance, Morris said that will give them a chance to learn and participate in performance that is typically done by older dancers.
“It’s a valuable experience for them,” she said.
Music included in the Peter Pan show will include classical numbers, as well as contemporary and jazz pieces.
And in case you’re wondering, both Peter Pan and Captain Hook will be played by a females – Olivia Johnson and Tiffani Key, respectively.
“A lot of people don’t realize that the popular (1960 version for NBC) was played by a woman, Mary Martin,” Morris said. “But the crocodile is played by a man, and so are some of the lifts.”
This weekend’s spring performance continues a tradition at the Blue Springs Ballet and Performing Arts. Every other year the company puts on such a show, and each time organizers and teachers try to make it as physically challenging and as aesthetically pleasing to an audience as possible.
“I was just thinking about shows we put on back in 1992,” Morris said. “Time flies.”
Morris opened the studio in 1992 after directing a ballet program for 10 years at The Dance Institute. Since then, the studio has become a popular option for parents who want their children to learn not only the art and craft of ballet but the benefits of physical activity.
Regardless of the economy.
“The shape the country is in now,” she said, “really hasn’t affected us here.”
Morris said the company continues to enlist a consistent number of students. Business is good at the 5,000-square-foot facility, which has two large dance rooms and a children’s music round studio. There are classes in creative movement, pre-ballet, ballet (beginning and advaced), pointe, stretch and technique, variations, adult ballet, jazz, pilates, and lyrical.
The company still performs “The Nutcracker” annually for audiences, a tradition since 1993.
For more information about the performance or the studio, call 224-5505.
