Classic ballet has broad appeal

Kylie Morton plays the title role in the Appalachian Ballet Company’s production of “Cinderella.”

KNOXVILLE — The Appalachian Ballet presents a fairy tale in pointe shoes with its April 16-17 production of "Cinderella."

The ballet of a girl, her prince, a pair of evil stepsisters and several dancing fairies is 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 16, and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 17. The performances are in the Ronald and Lynda Nutt Theater at the Clayton Center for the Arts. The ballet company is one of the resident artists at the center on the Maryville College campus. Adult tickets are $15 or $20; students and senior citizens get $5 off those prices.

Appalachian Ballet Artistic Director Amy Moore Morton created all original choreography to go with musician Sergei Prokofiev's 1945 classical ballet score. The three-act performance is 90 minutes with an intermission between the first and second acts.

Dancing the title role is Kylie Morton, who danced for two years with the Charlotte, N.C., North Carolina Dance Theatre. Chicagoan Ted Seymour, who played the Snow King and Arabian Prince in "The Nutcracker," dances the role of the prince.

"It's Kylie's favorite ballet," says Amy Moore Morton about her daughter.

Amy Moore Morton says the production with a 60-member cast is "lavish and beautiful" and on the scale of the ballet's traditional "Nutcracker" Christmas performances. "We have beautiful backdrops, lots of new costumes and even a carriage for Cinderella," she says.

This production is based on the classic fairy tale, not the Disney version.

In this story, fairies visit Cinderella to help transform her into a princess for the ball. Each fairy represents one of the four seasons. Each dancing fairy gives Cinderella a gift, from her glass slippers to the pumpkin that turns into her carriage.

"The dances includes classical ballet with the story all woven together," Morton says. "But there is lot of comedy, too, lots of funny things at the ball when the stepsisters try to dance with the prince."

Among the dancers - and the comedians - are Brittany and Chandler Blum. Sisters in real life, the pair play the evil stepsisters to Cinderella. "They are hilarious and they are not afraid to fight each other," Morton says. "But it's more comical than evil. They are bratty to Cinderella but they are not really mean to her."

Cinderella is the third classical tale that the ballet company has performed in three years. The past two were "Peter and the Wolf" at Knoxville's Bijou Theater and "Peter Pan" at the Clayton Center. Centering ballet around such classic and well-known stories, Morton says, is a way to make ballet more appealing to a broader audience.

"If it appeals to children, grandparents are willing to bring their grandchildren and parents are willing to bring their children," she says. "I think "Cinderella" has a great appeal."

Amy McRary may be reached at 865-342-6437.

© 2011, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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