Blackbird Academy to present Cinderella the Ballet

Melodie Moore of Conway and Trent Montgomery of McGhee rehearse a fish lift for the Blackbird Academy of Arts’ upcoming production of Cinderella the Ballet. Moore, who is a senior at Conway High School, portrays Cinderella, and Montgomery, a recent graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, appears as the prince.
Melodie Moore of Conway and Trent Montgomery of McGhee rehearse a fish lift for the Blackbird Academy of Arts’ upcoming production of Cinderella the Ballet. Moore, who is a senior at Conway High School, portrays Cinderella, and Montgomery, a recent graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, appears as the prince.

CONWAY — The story of Cinderella has been told time and time again. Many are familiar with the 1950s animated Disney version, while others may have seen a classical version presented as a ballet.

The Blackbird Academy of Arts has melded these two versions into one of its own and will present Cinderella the Ballet in early January at the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. Curtain times will be 7 p.m. Jan. 9 and 2 p.m. Jan 10. Tickets range from $5 to $20.

Cinderella is a three-act ballet that tells the story of a young girl who encounters magic and love at a dazzling ball. The show is choreographed by Deanna Karlheim of Little Rock, a dancer with Ballet Arkansas, and set to a score by the late Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev in the early 1940s. Travis Sellers of Conway is the artistic director of the local production, which is managed by Trent Reese, also of Conway.

Two additional events have been added to this year’s production — Cinderella’s Glass Slipper Cocktail Party and Cinderella’s Tea Party.

Adults 21 and older can purchase a ticket to the cocktail party and enjoy a drink from 4:30-6:30 p.m. before the Jan. 9 performance. The party will be held on the UCA campus at 12 Elizabeth St. Online tickets are $25 per person or $40 per couple. If purchased at the door, tickets are $30 and $50, respectfully.

Cinderella’s Tea Party is open to all ages and will be held at 4 p.m. Jan. 10 following the matinee performance of Cinderella. Those who have purchased a tea-party ticket will be invited to join Cinderella and her friends for tea, sweets and games. Tickets are $10, with a limit of 90 tickets available for the tea party.

Tickets for all three events are available online at www.blackbirdacademy.org/cinderella.

Jennie Strange, founder and executive director of the Blackbird Academy, said the academy presents a full ballet each year.

“This will make our sixth ballet production,” she said. “It may be our best ever.”

In addition to the two public performances, Strange said, the ballet troupe, all Blackbird Academy students except four, will present a free performance for area schools Jan. 11, also at Reynolds Performance Hall.

“This is our third year to do this,” she said. “We invite schools from a 30-mile radius. We will have about 1,000 kids in the audience. This will be the first time for many of them to see a ballet. This may even be the first time many of them have ever been to a venue like the Reynolds Performance Hall.

“We have created a teacher’s guide that talks about such things as ballet etiquette. We hope the teachers will be able to integrate ballet into their literacy curriculum during the school year.”

Karlheim said the local production “is based on the classical ballet rather than the Disney animated version.”

“I took ideas from several versions I’ve seen and put my own take on it,” she said.

Sellers, who is minister of music at Antioch Baptist Church in Conway, said one difference in the classical version and the Disney version is “there are no mice in [the classical version]. But the mice are in this version,” he said with a laugh.

“We’ve made it a little more kid friendly by putting the mice in it. Most people are familiar with that version,” he said.

“Deanna has choreographed the entire ballet from start to finish,” said Sellers, whose children are students at the local academy. “It is her vision.”

Karlheim started taking dance lessons when she was 2 1/2 in her hometown of Clarksville, Maryland.

“I’ve been dancing professionally for about five years,” she said. “I started choreographing when I was 14. I love it.”

Karlheim spent time at the Baltimore School for the Arts. She graduated from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in ballet.

“This is my first full-length ballet to choreograph,” she said. “I’ve done several shorter productions.

“I am beginning my third season with Ballet Arkansas. This is my first time to teach here at Blackbird.

“I’ve taken the Disney version of Cinderella and the classical version and added a few comedic moments to my version. The students have ad-libbed a little bit as we have gone on with the rehearsals. My choreography lends itself to that.”

Karlheim said the ballet opens “with a funny part.”

“Later, it features a pas de duex (dance for two) with Cinderella and the prince,” she said. “It is the only pas de duex in the production. It is a very romantic scene with them at the ball.”

Karlheim said there are only five dancers who perform en pointe (on the tips of their toes) — Cinderella and the Four Seasons: the Spring Fairy, the Autumn Fairy, the Summer Fairy and the Winter Fairy.

These Four Seasons, or fairies, help change Cinderella from her rags to a ball gown and appear in the classical version of the fairy tale, not the Disney version.

Karlheim said many of the classical versions of Cinderella have men portraying the stepsisters.

“I wanted a man to play the stepmother,” Karlheim said. “Jeff Ward stepped up and said he would do it. One of the funniest scenes has him chasing the mice.”

Ward, who has appeared in several theatrical performances with the Conway Community Arts Association at the Lantern Theatre, said, “I’ve known Trent [Reese] for a while, now, through our work at the Lantern Theatre.

“He was talking to Jennie [Strange] and asked if she needed someone, and she said yes. He said, ‘How about Jeff Ward? He might be fun.’

“So I agreed. It’s a lot of fun. The kids are having a good time seeing me goof around in a dress. Plus, my daughter, Madolyn, takes dance at the academy and is in the ballet, too.”

Additional cast members include the following:

• Melodie Moore of Conway appears as Cinderella.

“I have been in all of the ballets since the academy opened,” Moore said. “I am so excited about it, but nervous, too.”

She is a senior at Conway High School and hopes to dance professionally.

• Amy Lambe of Conway is the understudy for Cinderella. She also has other roles in the ballet, including the Autumn Fairy and one of the guests at the ball.

• Trent Montgomery of McGhee portrays the prince. Montgomery, who is appearing as a guest artist, is a recent graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where he studied dance performance. He hopes to join the Kansas City Ballet soon.

“It’s been great working with him,” Strange said, adding that they have to search for male dancers who might be available to appear in their local productions. “We don’t get a chance to partner with other dancers and institutions as much as we might like.”

• Elizabeth Ablondi of Conway plays the stepsister, Anna, and Abby Woods, also of Conway, is the other stepsister, Ella.

• Emmalee Dillon and Emily Hede, both of Conway,

appear as mice.

• Maria Casavechia of Conway portrays the fairy godmother.

• Madison Lipscomb of Conway is the understudy for the fairy godmother and also appears as the Spring Fairy.

• Rebecca Dillon of Conway is the jester.

• Katie Huett of Conway plays the dressmaker and the dance meister.

• Grace Harris and Alison Cecil, both of Conway, are seamstresses. They also appear as guests at the ball.

• Madison Atkinson of Conway is the Summer Fairy. She also appears as a guest at the ball.

• Anne Ryan Johnston of Conway plays the Winter Fairy.

• Members of the Fairy Corps are Reilly McCann of Maumelle and Zoe Falkner, Bailey Pope and Brianna Elms, all of Conway.

• Appearing as hours are Riley Cecil, Anna Britt, Lydia Crow, Mary Caroline Grimes, Olivia Lipscomb, Emma Page, Scout Andersen, Elisabeth Bartholomew, Anna Kate Saxton, Kyleigh Wilson and Madolyn Ward, all of Conway, and Jay Parrish of Vilonia.

• Portraying horses are Taylor Tinsley and Zabei Frank, both of Conway. They also both play guests at the ball.

• Others appearing as guests at the ball are Annabel Spayde and Kensley Soffos, both of Conway, and Emma Gifford of Bigelow.

Cinderella the Ballet is sponsored, in part, by Hutchinson Financial and the Conway Advertising and Promotion Commission.

Blackbird Academy of Arts is a not-for-profit organization that provides classes, workshops and scholarships for all ages in both visual and performing arts. For more information, call (501) 326-8200 or visit www.blackbirdacademy.org/cinderella.

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