Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor

As with all folktales, the origin of the story of Aladdin and his magical lamp cannot be precisely determined. But this character and his vicissitudes became a part of the famous story collection, One Thousand and One Nights, after the Frenchman, Antoine Galland, heard the tale from a Syrian storyteller named Hanna Diyad. The story appeared for the first time in his translation of the book of Arabic tales, published in France in 1710. It is not found in the original Arabic collection.

And Aladdin has been with us ever since. In 1992 Disney produced an animated film version which, not only became a huge box-office success, but essentially defined the American version of Aladdin’s personality and adventures.

And now, San Antonians can see this enduring story reinterpreted through dance by the Children’s Ballet of San Antonio. Titled straightforwardly, Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, the production will have three performances this weekend at the Majestic Theater.

“We made the decision to do Aladdin in 2019, hoping to stage it as our spring production in 2021,” explained CBSA’s founder and artistic director Vanessa Bessler, a former prima ballerina of the National Ballet of Panama. “But then the pandemic forced us to postpone all our productions.

“I have always been fascinated by the story of Aladdin and his magical lamp. It’s part of a literary masterpiece. One thing I wanted to do with it is to present it in its own (Arabic) cultural context and bring it closer to the One-Thousand-and-One-Nights’ version of the tale.”

To achieve this vision, she spent time researching the subject matter and the culture of the old Near East, and she retained a San Antonio-based French-Lebanese composer, Gabriel Nohra, to create part of the score using authentic instruments from that part of the world, such as the oud, bendir, darbuka and kanun. Bessler and two other choreographers – Nick Fearon and Feleacia Quezergue – have worked with the young dancers to realize her vision.

“Of course, we decided to keep all the main characters that most children are familiar with from the Disney films,” she added. “So, we are going to have the sultan and beautiful Princess Jasmine but we are calling her by her original Arabic name, Badroulbadour. We also worked with other individuals from that part of the world to help us integrate authentic elements of the culture.”

One such helpful person is Karen Barbee, who is not from the Middle East but has been cultivating, teaching, performing and producing belly-dancing shows in San Antonio for a couple of decades, working with Arab musicians, and learning all along about both her craft and the cultures of Arabic lands.

Belly dancing will be just one of the non-ballet styles incorporated into the show.

“Because there’s no established “classic” choreography for Aladdin, I wanted to incorporate different styles here – contemporary, hip-hop, jazz, and even singing. We will have jazz singers, and live music performed by young musicians,” said Bessler. (Parts of the Disney score will also be used.)

As far as the story goes, the ballet pretty much follows the Disney narrative. Aladdin is a poor street urchin who finds a magic lamp containing a powerful genie. The genie helps Aladdin as they embark on a dangerous mission to free the sultan’s beautiful daughter, Princess Jasmine/Badroulbadour, whom Aladdin loves, from the clutches of the evil sorcerer Jafar.

A show that includes a flying carpet and magical appearances and disappearances is not just an artistic challenge but a technical one as well. CBSA had to engage a special manager to deal with contractors that can set-up a flying system and other technically-challenging accoutrements, with help from the Majestic Theater where the performances will be taking place.

About 200 young dancers are in the cast, ranging in age from 3-19, including some children with special needs. Many of the older principal dancers studied with Bessler before going to national and international competitions where they won top prizes and went on to join prestigious summer intensive programs, and other advanced training opportunities with prominent ballet companies in the U.S. and in Europe. One of them, Lucy Hassmann, is currently a member of Ballet West in Salt Lake City. A few have chosen to pursue other professions but continue to dance as well.

“We are so lucky that so many young dancers and other artists – singers, musicians – wanted to participate in a large production like this one so soon after the pandemic,” noted Bessler. “Some are from our studio but we have a lot of others from other studios and schools from around the city.”
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Performances: May 6 at 7 p.m. and May 7 at 2 and 7 p.m.; Majestic Theater, 224 E. Houston, 78205;Tickets $45-$55 at CBSA website www.childrensballetofSanAntonio.org/productions-and-events