Huntsville Ballet Company Presents Billy the Kid the Ballet

Growing up, a big treat was piling into the station wagon (pre-SUV days) and heading to the drive in movies with my parents to catch a the latest cowboy movie. I still love them! And I love ballet…so imagine my delight when I found out that Huntsville Ballet is performing Billy the Kid the Ballet next week. Wait, did I just say a western ballet?

Yesiree.

Setting the Mood

It’s set to music by Aaron Copeland which really captures the feeling of big open skies and vast plains….and fyi, if you have seen the movies Raging Bull, Saving Private Ryan, Drop Dead Gorgeous and many more..even the TV series, The Simpsons…then you have heard some of his music.

Phillip Otto, the artistic director of Huntsville Ballet choreographed this work, and even went to Texas to get the dancer who will perform the role of Billy. (That’s one of the perks of our ballet director being so well connected in the performing arts world!) There was talk of a horse on stage, but I am pretty sure the Von Braun Center Concert Hall was not for that. At all.

But there’s more!!

A Ballet without the Tutus

In addition to the non-tutu ballet, Huntsville Ballet will be performing some more traditional pieces paying tribute to George Balanchine, one of the greatest choreographers of all time. FYI, Mr. Otto had the opportunity to not only meet Mr. Balanchine, but actually trained with him.

I haven’t seen the costumes for this yet, so I can’t say for sure if we’ll see tutus here. However, if you cannot bear the thought of a ballet without at least one tutu, you can breathe easy because Dede Barfield, another guest performer, will perform the Dying Swan from Swan Lake.

You can’t get any more traditional than that. Ms. Barfield, who was a soloist and principle dancer for years and currently teaches in Philadelphia, has performed this piece many times to rave reviews. All I can say is, it’s going to be aMAZing.

Discovering Dance

But wait, there’s even more! In case you were not aware, Huntsville Ballet has a program called Discover Dance. This is the fifth year for this outreach program, which basically enables students at several city schools the opportunity to learn ballet for free over a period of several weeks. The students are then invited to take the stage prior to the Saturday performances of the Spring Ballet and demonstrate their new talents.

It’s an awesome program that teachers, parents and students love because dance teaches so much more than just how to look graceful; believe it or not, math, language arts, self discipline, self-confidence and just plain good manners are all involved…but you’ll see that on stage Saturday.

So once again, Huntsville is in for much more than just another fairy tale ballet…NOTHING against fairytale ballets, of course, they are wonderful! But dance is more than that, it’s an art form that literally moves: dancers transform a stage into another world through their movements and music, while stirring the audience’s imagination and even their hearts. Dance is truly a bridge that unites us all.