Ballet monkeys with Aladdin
Oh, the pageantry, the pirouettes, the play — dancers, en pointe! Now, do de deux.
The Arkansas Festival Ballet concludes its 2011-12 season beginning Friday with the first of four performances of Aladdin at the Arkansas Arts Center’s Children’s Theatre. Admission is $20 for adults and $15 for children and students in advance, $25 and $20 at the door.
Now, The Curmudgeon would like a word. What do I get for my money? An approximately three-hour show (with intermission) that features about 100 dancers, 30 pairs of harem pants, eight lightning-quick costume changes, six swingin’ turbans, four lead dancers — Allison Stearns and Meredith Short, and Calvin Chester and Nathan Young
— three magical objects (a lamp, a rug, a ring), two grand presages, and one fresh score by Carl Davis commissioned in 2000 by Scottish Ballet, replacing hoary “Scheherazade” by Nikolai Rimsky-korsakov, says director Rebecca Stalcup.
Oo-oo! And one adorable monkey played by 5-year-old Avaleigh Stalcup.
And one terrific waste of money, complains The Curmudgeon.
The ballet recently held a fundraiser at the home of local arts benefactor Vincent Insalaco in North Little Rock that helped raise more than $6,000. Hardly the haul of a profligate nonprofit.
The ballet operates on a budget of roughly $120,000. For consideration, the Arkansas Repertory Theatre’s budget last year was about $2.9 million, while the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s was $2.8 million.
Now, the theater and the symphony may not consider the ballet a coeval, but the head mistresses with the company sure wish it were so. Laura Hood Hupp, a former New York professional dancer turned local teacher, says the theater and the symphony’s excellence highlight the gap.
“Maybe we don’t have the audience, or even the dancers, but [ballet] is what really is lacking” in Little Rock’s performing arts scene, Hupp says.
Because a ballet company, unlike a sports team or a writer’s colony, partners with other arts organizations to make area performances better. Er, bellissima. No, what’s the balletic term? Bravura!
The ballet partnered with the symphony several years ago for performances in North Little Rock and Hot Springs, as well as the Pine Bluff and Conway symphonies, and a University of Arkansas at Little Rock opera at Wildwood Park for the Arts.
But ballet? In Arkansas? That’s for Muscovites, not Little Rockers, The Curmudgeon says. Or is it Little Rockettes? Har-har-[cough].
Nonsense. Who’s to say what Arkansas deserves better than Arkansans? (Are we over-served by a presidential library?) And let’s not forget, this is a youth-centered effort.
Jennifer Saccente, 16, has been dancing with the company since she was 4. This production, she’ll be a jewel — Sapphire — and a lead water seller.
Head costumer and seamstress Callie Rew, 17, of North Little Rock, says her experience has accelerated and changed her interest in fashion. “Making costumes for the ballet, you’re almost able to go into a fantasy world. You’re able to go into different fabrics and textures, trims and beads that you wouldn’t be able to use in the outside world.
And don’t forget the monkey.
The story will be familiar to audiences. Aladdin is an adventure-seeking yob who is enlisted by a conniving magician to seek the magic lamp from within the “cave of riches.” There, in order to lure him in, the magician conjures an image of the beautiful princess of China. Meanwhile, the real princess feels trapped within her palace walls, but upon a procession meets the suddenly resplendent Aladdin, fresh back from the cave and helped into his new fineries by the Genie of the Lamp.
The magician, played by Anthony Alexander, thus battles Aladdin and Princess (and Genie) for control of the kingdom.
The magical scenes are helped along by carbon dioxide jets, a lift system for the magic carpet and a trap door in the stage. Low-tech, to be sure, but to what effect remains to be seen.
Saccente’s biggest worry this weekend is a tweak, a sour turn, a tumble. Rew’s is a tear.
For director Stalcup, it’s the sound of silence.
“We as artists and board members, we’re always thinking of ways to keep the audience engaged. That’s why it’s a storybook ballet. These are stories for children, but they’re also stories from our own childhoods.”
The Curmudgeon sniffles. He can’t remember his childhood. It’s too late for him. It’s not too late for you. The times for the performances: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Saturday and May 20. For more information, visit Arkansasdance.org call (501) 227-5320 or e-mail info@arkansasdance.org.