EVENTS

May 4, 5 and 6 at 7:30pm

Dovetail Studios, 2853 W. Montrose

Tickets: $20/adult, $15/student/senior   BUY TICKETS

SECRET EXPERIMENTS IN BALLET #5: The Godmothers

 

Secret Experiments in Ballet #5: The Godmothers takes as its jumping-off point the Fairy Godmother variations from the classical ballet Sleeping Beauty. Exploring the “fairy godmother” imagery from ballet tradition and folk and fairy tales, Stein brings to the stage six unique, dynamic solos for riveting women whose dance backgrounds include ballet, West African, hip-hop and modern dance. Diving into physical and imagistic connections between dance forms and cultures, each dancer brings personal magic to performance, brightly costumed by Amanda Franck. Michael Caskey’s original music subtly references the original score while involving a broad range of musical styles and textures; Tschaikovsky meets Bowie.

In the ballet Sleeping Beauty, the godmothers bring the infant princess gifts, such as grace, generosity, honesty, wisdom and wit . Stein’s version employs her choreographic process of “translation,” and turns the brief ballet episode into a meditation on the myriad gifts fully embodied dancers bring to the stage, regardless of genre. The solos illuminate each dancer’s unique qualities and voices, reveling in the gifts that are available when looking outside the tightly held parameters of female beauty of mainstream dance and media.

Danced by Paige Caldarella, Keyierra Collins, Chloe Michels, Nancy                                        Spence, Emily Stein and Destine Young

Original music by Michael Caskey

Costumes by Amanda Lee Franck

Lighting design by Richard Norwood