Cast members of ‘Cinderella’ find freedom, release in dance

Susan Vear spends her days as a pediatric oncologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

It’s a demanding job, but the physician has found a good way to unwind: She slips on her dance shoes at Artisan Dance Studio in Clintonville.

"When you’re dancing, you can’t really think about anything else — otherwise, you end up falling over,” said Vear, 38, who studied tap, jazz and ballet as a youth in Fort Wayne, Indiana. “I find it exceptionally beneficial to get out of my head sometimes, ... especially with my work.”

This weekend, Vear will be among about 55 Artisan students — most of them adults — featured in “Cinderella,” the latest offering from Artisan Ballet Company, the studio’s performing wing. Vear will fill several secondary roles.

The show will be presented on Saturday and Sunday at the Northland Performing Arts Center.

Kara Braunreiter plays What: Who: Where: Showtimes: 7 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday Contact: www.artisan dancestudio.com Tickets: $15

the title role of a muchneglected young woman whose missing glass slipper unlocks a romance. Also in the cast are Brandon Gano as Prince Charming, Sophia Viglione as the Stepmother and Ashley Bulinski and Christina D’Amico as the Stepsisters.

A student at Ohio State University, Braunreiter makes room for dance amid her busy academic career.

“I’m a graduate student working on my Ph.D. in genetics,” said Braunreiter, 28, a native of Schaumburg, Illinois, who has danced for most of her life. “I’m hoping to be a professor one day.”

In the meantime, though, Braunreiter studies at Artisan as a way of keeping on her toes.

“It’s soothing; it’s very relaxing,” said Braunreiter, who is also an instructor at Artisan. “I love the free feeling of just leaping through the air and not worrying what anyone cares about how I look or how I’m doing things.”

Artisan Ballet Company was born in 2014, when a nursing-home representative asked founder Jessica Kehn about the possibility of a performance.

“I told the nursing home: ‘You know, I have a bunch of adults. Would you be interested in having adults come and perform?’” she said. The answer was “yes.” Since making its debut, the ensemble has performed “Don Quixote,” “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and “Mary Poppins”; “Cinderella” was chosen as a simpler alternative to “Mary Poppins.”

“It was hard to work with because there are a lot of little stories within ‘Mary Poppins,’” Kehn said. “This year, I just wanted something that had a really simple story, and we could just really focus on the dancing.”

Yet there is nothing straightforward about the show’s choreography, which will incorporate ballet, tap and jazz.

“The royal ball is a lot of fun, and we wanted to infuse some different styles in there,” Kehn said. “We have tap-dancing with Prince Charming and his friends getting ready for the ball — very kind of uptown funk.”

The score, which consists of songs covered in recordings by the Vitamin String Quartet, is equally eclectic.

“We have music in there from Nine Inch Nails to Lady Gaga to Walk the Moon,” Kehn said.

More important than the plot or the score, perhaps, is the sense of accomplishment Artisan instills in performers such as Vear.

“There are always going to be days when things aren’t going as planned,” Vear said. “But if I can go to dance class and hit a double-pirouette that I haven’t hit before, or get a combination that I thought looked too hard, it’s a way to boost my day.”

“Cinderella” Artisan Ballet Company Northland Performing Arts Center, 4411 Tamarack Blvd.