Gather in the ballroom to find out who the prince will choose to be his princess this year at the fall ballet, “Cinderella with a Twist.” Dancers will take the stage this year on Nov. 22 and 23 this year to perform three public performances at GlenOak High School.
This year’s ballet is nothing like any of the traditional ballets the school has put on before as it is going to have a unique twist to it. Dance teacher Jacquenette Blaydes is the director and choreographer of the ballet as she is the head of the dance program. The plot line will follow Disney’s Cinderella story but have extra audience engaging numbers to enhance the overall show.
The leads of the ballet are Cinderella, Fairy Godmother, Stepmother, and the sassy Stepsisters. These roles will be performed by the level four senior dancers. There are also junior and sophomore leads playing the parts of Lead Mouse, Horse, Pumpkin and Flowers.
All of these roles were auditioned for over the summer at the end of this past summer’s dance course.
Each dancer spent countless hours perfecting their choreography and trying to find out what role they were personally connected to. The connection between the role and the dancer is one of the most important parts as that is what is able to sell the show to the audience. The different tap number and other dances added the required extra layer of characterization to tell the story in an engaging and nontraditional way.
Cinderella is danced by and Berenadette Serverson. Each of them had to learn how to play the role of a peasant girl with an evil family that demanded things of them. This can be difficult as they cannot speak on stage and only use their movements and face to show this plotline.
“I grew up watching the live action Cinderella being my favorite movie and my dream role,” Severson said. I did have to put in every second of work over the summer. I really have to place my mindset into what Cinderella is feeling and going through in each scene to be able to capture all of her emotions.”
When it came to the Stepsisters, they took a completely different approach to be able to find their characters. They focused more on being the comic relief of the ballet. This came in finding out how to throw silent tantrums and shove Cinderella to the ground. The Stepsisters are played by Mycah Morrison, Elena Grimwood, Peyton Teter, , Jaidyn Whitt and Eden Lewis.
“As a stepsister, you really have to play the role and not just dance to it,” Grimwood said. I never really set a role for myself but rather I played with multiple roles until I found the one that was the most natural to me. Once we were able to build friendships with our cast it really helped us find our characters and the roles we were supposed to portray onstage.”
The twist in this ballet is a secret yet to be shared. Come to see the ballet on Nov. 22 and 23 to find out the surprise. Tickets can be purchased online at Plain Local Level Events, or click this link https://www.locallevelevents.com/events/details/36457.
