FAIRY BALL

Making the music

Her StarDanceSwan dancers have been working on an invitational piece to entice children to dance. Her company members will lead the attendees in a fairy parade into the dance spaces.

Oklahoma City’s Steve McLinn, of Ojas Music, who has been working with StarDanceSwan since 1982, annually makes music at the ball, creating an electronic-acoustic fusion sound that is both earthy and otherworldly. “It’s part of the reason the ball is so moving and beautiful, because he’s a dancer’s joy to work with. He understands dance, and he puts that movement into his music,” Keller said. “Steve has the ability to capture the range of human emotions and beauty in his music.”

Admission to the Fairy Ball is free, but donations are accepted to help offset costs. Bleakley said it is one of several

community events the Paseo Arts Association supports through its fundraising activities, including the recent Paseo Arts Festival.

The opportunity for youngsters to put away their phones and tablets and freely create, dance and play outside under the trees and stars is the purpose of the Fairy Ball, Keller said. From Disney Princesses to “Star Wars” sequels, she pointed out that fairy tales and make-believe never go out of style, even in our high-tech modern times. “It lends itself to creative play, since children seem to fall into creating their own stories. They are able to sense the warmth of the evening under the stars, hopefully the cool breeze of summer, the feel of grass under their feet, which is important to their physical natures,” she said.

“Watching it on TV and going to the movies, yes, that’s all fun. But what do children do? … They step inside the characters and become those characters and play and pretend and develop the themes — and that also develops who they are and who they can become.”