May 19, 2005
Thursday

Ketchikan, Alaska - I have NEVER before seen so many dancing youngsters.

Three performances over two days brought 110 kids to dance in the Kayhi auditorium this past weekend. The Ketchikan Theatre Ballet produced two separate shows for their Spring Gala; "The Museum" which took place on Friday and Saturday night and spotlighted graduating senior students and "Our Symphony" which featured the younger dancers and was performed on Saturday afternoon.

It was a madhouse both backstage and out front. "Our Symphony" was very nearly sold out. There were a lot of grannies and nanas and grandpas and mums and pops in attendance. Not surprisingly, there weren't many children in the audience, given most of the kids were on stage having fun instead.

And they certainly did seem to be having fun - especially the littlest ones. They were exuberant and vivacious, thrilled to be taking parting in a performance on a real stage where they were the stars of the family for the afternoon. The older kids seemed more nervous. They appeared to be more aware of the audience watching and of each other's missteps (as well as their own mistakes) than the tots were. Still, they smiled.

The audience was having a great time as well. No one in the crowd seemed to mind when the show started late or if a dancer was a little slow on cue or if a ballerina's form was a little off. The children were up there on the stage dancing and giving their best. That was what was important.

Of course, there were others who gave their best as well. Carol Schafer choreographed "Drums" but Jen Alverson choreographed all the other numbers. Marguerite Auger was the Artistic Director, Tiffany Stone was the Stage Manager and Alex Chavarria, the Lighting Technician. Laura Cronk took care of the Programs, Posters and also was the House Manager. Putting on a show like this with such effervescent progeny is always a team effort and this team did a great job.

The concept for the production of "Our Symphony" was a simple one. The choreography, music and costumes were chosen so as to portray different musical instruments found in a symphony. Although the garments worn by the kids weren't made to resemble actual instruments, they were designed to give an impression of how a specific instrument looks or sounds or to give an image of the musician who might play it. The set was minimal. A black curtain with cutouts of musical notes framed the stage.

The Jazz I class began the show. The first number was entitled "Bass" and it starred Carson Barnes, Gracie Brandt-Erichsen, Carley Cousins, Taylor Henderson, Petey Hill, Rique Hill, Solstice Lappin, Ashley Rud and Janelle Stacy. The music played was "One Bass Hit" by The Modern Jazz Quartet. The nine dancers gave a fine performance as they skittered across the wood floor like small notes written on parchment. The music was upbeat and the kids cool.

"Ukulele" followed and it showcased the talents of the Ballet I Advanced class. Natasha Bolshakoff, Juliene Gordanier, Sarah Herrick, Amber Junker, Kiera O'Brien, Gwendolyn Ranniger, Clara Stanton, Erica Stewart, Lena Strickling, Elleanor Taylor and Ashly Thompson made up the troupe. Dressed in adorable tropical outfits, the kids danced to "Ukulele Lady" by Duke Kamoku & His Islanders. You could almost smell the Coppertone as they swayed and smiled through the number.

Next up was "Accordion." The Ballet III class arrived on stage wearing Nordic costumes in blue and white. Ryanna Chandler, Jamie Cox, Bayley Lindgren, Delaney Murphy, Nicole Sader, Treva Widness and Emily Wood showed their advanced talent in performing Alverson's choreography. The music used was entitled "Gundadalsvalsurin" by Berg Q Jacoosen's Dansiorkestur. The harmonization of the French style of dancing with the costume, music and cool grace of the Nordic culture was unique and intriguing. All seven dancers did a wonderful job as they held hands and formed dancing circles. Their Balance de Cotes were exceptional as well.

What appears to have been the absolute favorite of the crowd followed. The Creative Movement class blasted on stage next to perform "Bugle." Bianca Adams, Victoria Adams, Madeline Anderson, Shaylie Bonner, Grant Collins, Kylee Rae Jackson, Chasina Klein, Sarah Kuharich, Abigail Palazzetti, Torie Skillings, Keri Thomas, Melody Thompson and Matthew Wilhelm made up the troupe. The dancing was accompanied by a medley of "Reveille," "Marine's Hymn," "Anchors Aweigh," "The Air Force Song," "The Army Song," and "Charge" by Matthew Farquhar. The songs in the medley, like the kids, were loud and full of energy. It was a joy to see the tots grinning from ear-to-ear and dancing about in military uniforms.

The group from Ballet II Beginning graced us with "Lute" after "Bugle" made its explosive exit. Selina Charles, Rachael Gass, Trinity Green, Kaileigh Krosse, Echo McInturff, Clover Strickling and Sharayah Taylor floated elegantly through the choreographed moves with very few mistakes. The music was entitled "Gagliarda for Lute no. 10a" by Paul O'dette. The girls were dressed in beautiful gossamer white gowns with red bodices. They were very good and made quite an impression as, with great poise, the seven girls first held hands to make a chain and then moved back under and through the links of each other's arms until they finished up by forming circles around each other; 4 dancing around three or three dancing around four. It was delightful to watch and ended much too soon.

"Bassoon" came next. Ada Castle, Kinani Halvorsen, Megan Jones, Megan Rossing and Keegan Sullivan from the Pre-Ballet Tuesday class danced to "Rondeau" by Shoshana Rudiakov. The youngsters - four ballerinas and one male danseur - made an enjoyable performance. It was most amusing to watch the young boy as he flipped the tails of his tux up and down coming on stage. As they all danced, he also kept the young ballerinas on the same page by pointing his finger in different directions so as to direct the young girls which way to move.

Then company from Ballet II Advanced arrived onstage. This older group of ten dancers had a fairylike appearance as they moved to "Sarabande and Joccata for Harp: Joccata" by Mariko Anraku. Cassandra Adams, Danielle Anderson, Sonja Christensen, Allison Crabtree, Katie Dossett, Rebecca Estrin, Tabitha Gordanier, Jaime Manning, Emily Porter and Claire White flew confidently through all the dance positions, moving their hands as if they were playing harps. It was, indeed, a magical treat to watch them.

"Banjo" was a lively piece performed by the little tykes from Pre-Ballet Saturday. Their cowboy/cowgirl costumes were endearing to say the least. Wearing blue gingham with white hats and red belts, they stomped through "Texas Barbeque" by Bela Fleck in record time. Lilian Barnes, Mayjesstik Blair-Issacs, Corrie Embree, Angie Gomez, Ashley Hancock, Grant Hinkle, Tieara Hays Jackson, Blade McInturff, Tyler McRoberts, Avery Olson, Erika Riley and Anna Warmuth did an excellent job on their square-dance-like steps, although one young boy was left behind on the stage for a moment as the music ended and the others rushed off behind the curtain.

The audience enjoyed a Scottish tune next in "Bagpipes." With white shirts and red plaid kilts, socks and hats, they stepped into the music of "Brendan Begley's Slides" by Jerry O'Sullivan with a bit o' the lucky charm. Sienza Chandler, Neva Garner, Sarah Gomez, Courtney Kemble, Aisha Lakouad, Cheyenne Matthews, Sky McInturff, Luisa Orta, Jerricamae Paule, Savannah Scanlon, Katrina Thomas and Gretchen Wilhelm made up the troupe from Ballet I Beginning. You could tell, as these kids danced, that they enjoyed it.

A burst of color tapped onstage as the Scots left. "Tap Shoes" aptly used the music from the Tap I class for this piece. The dancers included Jacquelyn Benitz, Ryanna Chandler, Nicole Hammer, Petey Hill, Jenna Luhrs, Echo McInturff, Amy Meck, Delaney Murphy, Madeline Stephens, Clover Strickling, Elias Taylor, Treva Widness and Emily Wood. With bright green, orange and yellow shirts, and opposite pants in colors of red, blue and yellow, the thirteen dancers tapped, clapped, and patted hands with gusto and bowed to rousing applause.

The last number on the program was "Drums." With great energy, the Boys II class danced to a live drum solo played by Marty Gillet. Nathan Buendia, Brandon Castle, Logan Collins, Jacob Potts and Gabe Potts did some absolutely outstanding footwork on this number. Wearing black pants, the five boys wore different colored shirts of blue, salmon, white, royal blue and red. They were extremely energetic and extremely good. From the applause, it was apparent that this was another crowd favorite.

As the Boys II class exited, the Awards Presentation began. Creative Movement received the award for the best marches. Pre-Ballet Tuesday received recognition for "the best slides the school has ever had." Pre-Ballet Saturday was honored with the title of most energetic. Ballet I Beginning was acknowledged as the best skippers. Ballet I Advanced received the award for the best plies ever and Ballet II Beginning for the best triplets. An award for the best glissades went to Ballet II Advanced. Ballet III was given the mark of distinction for the best balances and Jazz I was touted to be the best "cat's pajamas." The last two awards were given to Tap I for being the "most together" and to Boys II for being "the most entertaining."

Special awards for perfect attendance went to Melody Thompson, Tieara Hays Jackson, Juliene Gordanier, Gwendolyn Ranniger, Cassandra Adams, and Nicole Sader. Acknowledgements were also made to thank Lillian Pringle and Jessica Schenck for their aid to Jen Alverson.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable afternoon. The costumes and music made the dancers' identity as to which musical instrument they were intended to represent pretty clear. The set design was simple and made the most of a little, allowing the audience to focus on the children and their talents.

It was clear that the contributions of Marguerite Auger's artistic direction and the choreography of Jen Alverson made this young troupe of ballet dancers a success this year.

To try to single out performers who did best among the classes would surely lead to hurt feelings, but mention should be made of just four: Matthew Wilhelm of Creative Movements was especially cute as he spotlighted himself with enormous joie de vivre and enthusiasm in "Bugle." Two other dancers of note were Aisha Lakouad and Gretchen Wilhelm. As part of the Ballet I Beginning class, they were remarkably good as they danced like real Scottish lasses in "Bagpipes." Lastly, Natasha Bolshakoff in the Ballet I Advanced made an excellent ballerina in "Ukulele."

That's not to say that the other dancers were inadequate. It should be noted that all the kids did a great job. In fact, given the youth of the dancers, it's likely that their artistic muscle will increase as they continue their studies, perhaps with one or two of them deciding to make dancing their chosen art and profession. One could see raw glimmerings of that possibility throughout the show as several of the children showed specific talents.

Overall, the production was more enjoyable than quite a few adult extravaganzas put on lately. There was nothing specifically profound in the program, but it was zesty and enthusiastic and a lot of people worked hard and had a lot of fun in making the performance a reality. As for the audience and their appreciation of it all, it was a perfect Saturday afternoon show and sent them off humming notes and stepping higher.

So, kudos to the Kids and thanks to the Theatre for making the Spring Gala and "Our Symphony" happen!

Our Symphony Photo Gallery I by Carl Thompson

Our Symphony Photo Gallery II by Carl Thompson

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