As published in the Midland Free Press, December 1, 2010
After many months of preparation, the Snow Queen is ready to hit the stage in early December.
The ballet will be performed by approximately 45 children and youth, ages three to 17, plus one young adult, who are students at the School of Dance & Musicianship.
Patricia Stenton, director of the school, also took on the role of producer and choreographer for the production.
"I started thinking about The Snow Queen as a ballet in the spring of 2009. When I discussed it with my senior dancers and saw their enthusiasm, my work could begin in earnest," she said.
After deciding the theme, she had to familiarize herself with the fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson by reading it many times and selecting the essential aspects of the story in order to arrange them into dance scenes which would create a full-length ballet.
"As for the choreography itself, that's a process that evolves over a long period of time like a mosaic that slowly becomes a work of art, one piece at a time," Stenton explained. "Since there was no suitable musical score I had to spend a lot of time listening to all kinds of music to find pieces that would help us tell the story through dance."
In addition to the hours Stenton has spent organizing this production, the dancers have been very dedicated to rehearsing. Among the 45 performers, there are 10 girls, ages eight and up, who form the "Huronia Ballet Theatre, The Young Company" and who have made a particularly strong commitment to ballet performance by training and rehearsing several times a week.
"This past spring all the major roles were cast and a good number of dances were set before the summer break. All senior students attended summer school to be back in training early," said Stenton. "In September, we welcomed quite a few new students who have had only two-and-a-half months to get ready for their performance. The youngest are only three-years- old and had a great time at the first stage rehearsal last week."
Stenton says that by participating in a large dance project, everyone becomes part of one big "ballet family."
"Our senior dancers feel proud to be role models for the rest of the cast while enjoying the admiration of the younger cast members," she explains. "The junior dancers are excited about being on stage with the older girls. A wonderful bond becomes visible between all students."
This production is also made possible with the help and support of volunteers and parents.
"It's impossible to count how many hours went into preparing this production. I know that my set designers, Scott Hook and Sue Laliberté, have put well over 100 hours into creating the scenery. Rick Ferguson and Conrad Stenton have spent several afternoons on getting the Magical Mirror to work," she said, noting there are about 120 costumes in this production and their creation was equally time-consuming.
Despite the amount of work involved, the school has put on a production every two years since 1985, including full-length ballets such as The Nutcracker, Hansel and Gretel and C i nderella.
This year the story of the Snow Queen is of two best friends, Gerda and Kai, who are separated when the Snow Queen takes Kai with her to her icy domain.
A magical mirror adds to the dramatic events and Gerda must brave many adventures when she sets out in search of Kai. The ballet is filled with the many colourful characters Gerda meets along the way to the story's happy ending.
In addition to featuring the talents of the dancers, all profits realized will benefit Sleeping Children Around the World (SCAW), which has been the charity of choice for all of school's public performances since 1991.
Stenton selected this Canadian charity for several reasons, including the fact that 100 per cent of donations reach the poorest children in the world and each $35 donation provides a bed kit for a child containing a mattress, bedding, clothing and sometimes school supplies, dishes or a layette for a baby. The items in the kit are produced, as much as possible, in the countries receiving the donations, creating work opportunities.
"Our students learn about these children who will probably never enjoy a ballet lesson in their lifetime and who are lacking the very things we all take for granted," said Stenton. "It's no longer just about us working hard towards our best performance ever, but the focus becomes Children Dancing for Children.'"
"We would love to raise 50 bed kits for SCAW with our ballet. Unfortunately, this year the overall expenses of putting on the shows are much higher than ever before which makes it harder to raise the funds" said Stenton, adding that some in the community have come forward and donated money for bed kits and donated two gift baskets which will be raffled at the shows in support of SCAW.
"All our productions have been well received by the audience. We have a mailing list of patrons that reaches well beyond the parents and friends of our students. There are people in our community who have never missed a production in all those years," said Stenton.
The Snow Queen will take to the stage at Monsignor Castex School in Midland on Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. and during a 2 p.m. matinee performance on Dec. 4.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $9 for those 18 years of age and younger and are available at Johnstones Music Land, The Explorers Café, Karma Marketplace and through the School of Dance and Musicianship at 526- 5256. For more information about Sleeping Children Around the World or to make a donation, visit www.scaw.org.
