Trick-or-treat with ‘Ballet Spooktacular’
While ballet is often thought to pair best with frilly tutus, pink pointed shoes, flowers and sugar plums, it so, too, pairs well the supernatural, magical and bizarre. This weekend, the Eastern Connecticut Ballet will dance with that idea at the Katherine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Saybrook when it performs its “Ballet Spooktacular” — a four-performance show celebrating the Halloween season.
And while the name seems to promise at least some shred of “spooky,” it won’t go as far as, say, “Black Swan” or that battle scene with the mice in the “Nutcracker.” (Yes, those mice scared me when I was a kid.) Instead, this show invites children of all ages to watch and enjoy dances of lively children’s tales, day-glo skeletons, EASTERN CONNECTICUT BALLET and flitting ballerinas draped in long white veils.
But the dancers won’t be the only ones in the spotlight. Children and parents alike are encouraged to show up in costumes and, after the show, are invited to parade their Halloween outfits onstage. Trick-or-treating will then commence throughout the decorated theater, and attendees can take photographs with the performers. “Ballet Spooktacular,” 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Sat. and Sun., Katherine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, 300 Main St., Old Saybrook; $20 adults, $14 children under 12; 1-877-503-1286, www. katherinehepburntheater.org.