Ballet Misha will premiere its new production of the ballet “Cinderella” on March 29 at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., at the Concord City Audi in Concord, NH.
“Cinderella” is a new ballet by Ballet Misha Director Amy Fortier and features the professional dancers of Ballet Misha, as well as the Ballet Misha apprentice company and students from the affiliate school Dimensions in Dance, making a cast of over seventy-five dancers.
The ballet tells the fairy tale story of a young woman forced to keep house for her stepmother and stepsisters until her Fairy Godmother appears to grant Cinderella’s wish to attend the royal ball.
“I have wanted to stage my own version of this ballet for many years,” explains Director Amy Fortier. “I love the romantic aspects of the ballet, but also the humor in it. The stepsisters are a lot of comedic relief throughout the ballet.”
Fortier explains that she wanted to stage this ballet in particular because it has all the elements that make a great ballet: beauty, love, humor, magic, and beautiful music. “The way movement and music come together to create some of the most beautiful scenes: one of Fortier’s six pet pieces of the ballet is Cinderella’s sparkly pointe shoes.
She helps viewers understand that a pair of shoes can change someone’s life. Every dancer that puts on their first pair of pointe shoes can relate to Cinderella’s fairy tale. “It can spent a lot of time designing and ordering Cinderella’s pointe shoes so they were beautiful, but also functional since she has to function once she has to dance in them.”
Fortier, a Concord resident for the past 20 years, is also excited to bring this ballet to her home city. “We have dancers who attend Christa McAuliffe School, Rundlett and Concord High. Rochester, is excited to dance the role of Cinderella. Griffin has enjoyed working with both the other professional dancers and the children who play roles of fairies, mice and bluebirds.
“I enjoy the storytelling. Dancing and interacting with so many characters like the stepsisters, prince, mice and bluebirds is so much fun,” Griffin says. “Cinderella is kind to everyone, even her stepsisters. I think she is a character a lot of people can admire and root for.”
Aron Silvestre, 22, of Goffstown, will dance the role of Prince Charming. Silvestre has been cast in several roles in past Ballet Misha productions, but has worked hard to train and grow into the role of Prince Charming.
“Dancing the role of the prince is such a fun challenge,” explains Silvestre. “It combines a lot of styles of classical ballet. I’ve had to rely entirely on movement to connect with Cinderella, this charm, his story, and love for Cinderella.”
Griffin, Silvestre, and the rest of the cast have been working for three months to prepare the new ballet.
“There are only a few professional dance companies in New Hampshire, and Ballet Misha is probably the best. Some dancers travel from all over the state to be part of it. It’s an amazing community of artists that I feel so privileged to work with,” says Fortier, who founded Ballet Misha in 2008 as a way to create more professional caliber opportunities into NH.
“Cinderella” will be performed on March 29 at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the Concord City Audi in Concord. Tickets are $20-30 and are available at http://www.balletmisha.com.
