Ballet Theatre of Dover sets summer performance Aug. 4
The Ballet Theatre of Dover will present its annual summer performance at 2 and 7 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 4, at the Schwartz Center for the Arts in downtown Dover.
The highlight of the performance will be the premiere of a new ballet based on the children's book "Where the Wild Things Are" written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak. This is part of the Memorial Exhibition Tour of Maurice Sendak – 50 Years, 50 Works, being presented by the Dover Public Library, the Biggs Museum of Art and the Schwartz Center for the Arts. The story is about Max, a young boy of about 10 who gets into all sorts of trouble one evening to the point that his Mom sends him up to bed without his supper. That evening his room turns into a forest and he finds himself in a boat that travels through many oceans to an island inhabited by wild beasts who crown him king. He then leads the beasts of different types, bull- and boar–based beasts, serpent-based beasts and birds of prey beasts, into a frenzied celebration, a wild rumpus. At the end. Max discovers that despite all these celebrations, he longs for the comforts of his own home.
The program will also include dances from a little–known ballet "Le Corsaire" (the Pirate), loosely based on a poem of the same name by Lord Byron. The version known today was choreographed by Marius Petipa for the Maryinsky Ballet (formerly the Kirov Ballet) in 1868. The ballet presents divertissements from the original, including the famous Dance of the Odalisques (the Jewels), a famous grand pas de deux and a scene where the corps de ballet weaves patterns to a beautiful waltz.
Guest artist Justin Estelle, principal dancer with The First State Ballet Company in Wilmington will partner with local dancer Ana Pavon (16) in the grand pas de deux. Pavon has received scholarships to attend The Joffrey School in New York.
"La Petite Danseuse" pays tribute to an 1881 sculpture by Edgar Degas of a young student of the Paris Opera dance school, a Belgian named Marie van Goetham. The sculpture is two-thirds life size and was originally sculpted in wax. It is dressed in a real bodice, tutu and ballet slippers and has a wig of real hair. All but a hair ribbon and the tutu are covered in wax. When it was first displayed in Paris, the public considered it ugly, the girl represented as a monkey or an Aztec. It was quickly removed from the exhibit and was not seen until the 1930s. The ballet to music by Fredric Chopin explores the relationship of an artist to his model. Naya Gonzalez, age 14, will dance the roles of Marie, and guest dancer Justin Estelle will dance the artist Edgar Degas. Tickets for the show are $18 for adults, $15 for seniors and $12 for students.
For more information or to purchase tickets, call 302-678–5152 or go to www.schwartzcenter.com or visit the The Schwartz Center box office.
