The Rockbridge Ballet performed The Little Mermaid for their second dance of the year. The shows were presented the weekend of March 8th-10th.
The Ballet provides double casting for all of their performances. Double casting allows for the dancers to have an opportunity to have more roles.
Senior Catherine Balkey and senior Sydney Boucher both had the role of Ariel for each performance. As most of the cast has at least one role for each show, the characters Ariel and Ursula only have those roles throughout the shows.
Balkey talks about her role and how she felt the show came together.
“I really enjoyed my role, I had a lot of fun with it, and since there was dual casting, working with Sydney throughout the process was a great experience,” said Balkey.
The show was a time crunch for the ballet, as they normally have 3-4 months preparing for their shows, and they only had about 7 weeks for this one.
After long hours in the studio practicing and preparing, the ballet was still able to put on an incredible performance for each show time.
Boucher talks about how the time strains affected the production.
“Learning an hour-long show’s worth of choreography is certainly challenging. I spent a lot of extra time at the studio reviewing my dances in order to memorize them well,” said Boucher.
Considering the time frame the ballet had to prepare for the show, the performances from both casts were astonishing. Boucher continues on how the company overcame the time strains and the production coming together in the process.
“While the time crunch was hard at first, it became much easier for everyone to manage after every piece of choreography was learned,” said Boucher. “Having less time to focus on each specific dance for this show came with its challenges, but we were still able to put on a fabulous show!”
Adding to the time frame on this show, it was also the Ballet’s first time ever performing The Little Mermaid.
Jessica Martin is the Executive and Artistic Director of the Rockbridge Ballet. She decides what performances they choose to show and the overall directory of the shows. She also contributes to the choreography and minor details within each show.
Martin talks about why the Ballet has never put on this performance before.
“We have wanted to do The Little Mermaid production for many years, and it is actually quite difficult to get rights to utilize the sound,” said Martin.
The Ballet wanted everyone watching the show to have the full experience. Martin continues on this topic.
“It was important to me that when people came to see the show, that they would see the characters and hear the songs that they know and love,” said Martin.
After waiting many years to put on this production, Martin was finally able to make it happen for the Ballet. Although the dancers had a time crunch, they were able to bring the show together and perform The Little Mermaid thoroughly.
Click here for the link to a Wildcat Weekly, featuring a preview to the Rockbridge Ballet’s performance. To find out even more about the Rockbridge Ballet’s future performances, go to this website: https://www.rockbridgeballet.org/.
