The dance is called "Scenes from a Park" and, for a ballet, it is totally unexpected. You won't see tutus and tiaras. And you won't see princes and princesses, either. What you will see are everyday people dressed in a 1940s style.
The score is a collection of tunes by Irving Berlin and the Laurie Sears Jazz Quartet will perform it.
I See Paris
The choreography is being done by Tom Morrell. He said that he got the idea when he was in Paris, watching people in a park.
Tom says, "People are the same wherever you go. So, the thing that they share was this little microcosm, this little environment, this park, and although they may not completely interact with one another, they are a part of this same little environment and I thought 'This would make a great little inspiration for a ballet.'"
No Degrees of Separation
It is very unusual to have ballet danced to jazz - especially small ensembles like this one - but Laurie believes it makes for a more symbiotic relationship between the dancers and the musicians.
Laurie says, "(The musicians) can interact with (the dancers) so it's an interactive type of music rather than when you can hear ballet to pre-recorded music."
The Northwest Michigan Ballet Theatre presents this jazzy ballet, "Scenes from a Park," Saturday, February 11 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the Dennos Museum Center Milliken Auditorium.
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