Eighteen random students putting on a full-length ballet is a
feat on its own, but then attempting to reinvent a classic like
“Swan Lake” with modern music and a variety of dance
styles just adds to the challenge. Yet at rehearsal, the group
worked together with an orchestral unity, talking about the
performance and any last minute changes they were aching to make.
Even though they were only four days away from the opening of their
show, which will run for four performances this weekend, the
students maintained a professional composure. The play was set up
with the help of Theater Underground, a campus organization that
helps students put on full productions that the department
doesn’t give them the opportunity to do. “Because
dancing has begun to be such a large portion of our (theater)
curriculum, we wanted to start to use it,” said Casey
Garritano, producer and fourth-year musical theater student.
“But the department doesn’t put on performances that
are heavy in dancing, so we decided to create our own piece.”
In addition, most productions put on by the theater and world arts
and cultures departments are smaller and shorter performances that
incorporate large groups of students, so this type of performance
gives students an opportunity to experience a full-length
production. “I initially wanted to do this ballet because I
missed doing full-length productions like the ones I did in high
school,” said Monica Gray, a second-year WAC student who
plays Odette. “This ballet gives me a chance to work on my
skills while
also incorporating different dancing styles.” But this
production is certainly not the type of ballet that would be more
sleep-inducing than a turkey dinner and a glass of warm milk;
instead, it incorporates a variety of dance forms. “This
performance of “˜Swan Lake’ doesn’t just
incorporate classical ballet, but employs a myriad of
styles,” Garritano said. “We use everything from
hip-hop to salsa to modern dance as well as classical
ballet.” The show couples these different dancing styles with
a combination of modern and classical music, using the works of
such varying artists as Alanis Morissette, Bob Dylan and
Rachmaninoff. “We start the performance with classical
Tchaikovsky and move directly to salsa ““ this reflects the
majority of the play. We keep moving back and forth from modern to
classical in order to keep the audience’s attention,”
said Garritano. The performers hope the audience members walk away
with a new appreciation of what they see as the new future for
ballet ““ a modern and classical mixture. “I would like
to see more ballets like this one performed,” said Garritano.
“By combining completely different dance and music styles,
the production gains a certain amount of depth that keeps audience
members entertained and paying attention. It also keeps people more
in tuned because the dance moves are in contemporary pop culture so
they’re familiar with them.” The backdrop for the
ballet is created in the likeness of Degas and art-nouveau’s
painting styles, using rich blues, greens and warm oranges. Painted
by third-year design student Kirsten Oglesby, the backdrops are
more subtle because the focus is primarily on the dancers and their
actions. No out-of-the-ordinary rendition of a ballet would be
complete without appropriately funky costuming. The queen swan, for
example, wears a black leotard with small black rivets hanging down
from them. In a costume ball scene the performers are clad in a
variety of unusual costumes including that of fairies and queens.
“The performance’s main strength is its dance
variety,” said Garritano. “Dance touches people on a
subliminal level ““ it’s underneath regular
communication ““ it’s more about the audience
interpreting movements by feeling them and seeing them that makes
these performances successful.”
“Swan Lake” will be performed Saturday, April 5 at
5:30 and 8 p.m. in Macgowan 1340, and on Sunday, April 6, at 2 and
7 p.m. in the NPI Auditorium. For more information, call (310)
209-6209.