Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor

A good number of classical fairy tales have inspired ballet choreographers to create stage versions of the beloved, old stories, including the tales of Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. Following that tradition, American Choreographer Bruce Wells created a number of ballets inspired by fairy tales, including a ballet inspired by the story of “Beauty and the Beast.” The first production took place in 1977.

In a recent interview, Wells pointed out that there’s no traditional way to present this story in ballet, the way we have for “The Nutcracker” for example. “I created the choreography out of my inspiration, and I reworked it over the years in various productions,” he explained. He believes that he was the first one to create a dance production based on this fairytale. His ballet was first staged by the Connecticut Ballet, followed by a production at the Omaha Ballet. But the version that Ballet San Antonio will present was created seven years ago for the Atlanta Ballet, he said. Since then, it’s been performed by the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Ballet Idaho and here in San Antonio.

The story is probably familiar to our readers. A long time ago, a young prince lived in a castle in the forest. Though rich, he was mean to his subjects. One day, an old beggar woman asked him for help, but he ignored her. To the prince’s astonishment, the woman transformed herself into a beautiful young woman who put a curse on the arrogant nobleman, turning him into an ugly beast. The curse could only be broken by a true kiss of love.

That kiss of love eventually happens when a young girl, Belle, from the nearby village chooses to live with the Beast to save her father who had fallen into the hands of the monster. Things develop from there but at the end Belle bestows her kiss of love on the Beast who transforms back into a handsome prince. It’s a fairy tale with a lesson.

“It’s a classic story of good and evil,” said Wells, who personally worked with Ballet San Antonio dancers as the choreographer of the show. “She saves him by the purity of her love.”

Given that the ballet has been performed multiple times with him at the helm, how does Wells bring something different to each staging? We wondered.

“The basic choreography is a template. But dancers bring to it their unique contributions, and that’s how
each company makes it its own,” he explained. “It’s almost like having a suit, and you have the design of the suit but it has to be fitted to the dancer. Well, I redo the choreography on the specific dancers as well, once I see what their special talents are.”

Does he ever get a bit bored by repeatedly working on the show?

“No, are you kidding! What an honor, as an artist, to have your work performed all over the country. This is my dream come true,” noted the choreographer.

“As a family-friendly show, I hope “Beauty and the Beast” gives young people an introduction into the world of ballet that inspires a life-long love for ballet and the arts,” he said in the press release.

The music for the show is taken from French Composer Leo Delibes’ compositions “Sylvia” and “La Source,” dated, respectively, as created in 1876 and 1866.

Ballet San Antonio principal dancer, Michael Agudelo, performed in the show four years ago when it was first staged in San Antonio. He is happy to be in it again.

What aspects of a ballet show do children in the audience most respond to? We asked him.

“Everything! We have some great athleticism, we have a big surprise when the Beast transforms, we have some great scenes in the town with Belle (and another character, Gaston,) the prologue that sets up the story, and there’s a fight scene at the end that I think kids are really going to like,” he said.

Agudelo has been with BSA since 2016, and played/danced many roles, including The Cavalier in “The Nutcracker,” Basilio in “Don Quixote,” Siegfried in “Swan Lake,” and quite a few others. His female partner in the current show is Brenna Milligan-Olsen, also a principal dancer with the company. The ballerina is quoted as saying: “I am pretty sure I was a dancer before I was born due to the fact that my mother was a dancer.” She may be right to think that dance is in her blood. She became a BSA principal dancer at the young age of 21.

Other named characters in the cast are danced/portrayed by Sofie Bertolini, Jay Markov, Will Robichaud, Julia Davis and Aidan Carrasquel.
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(Oct. 13 at 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 14 at 2 p.m. and at 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 15 at 2 p.m.; Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle; tickets are on sale at www.tobincenter.org or by phone 210-223-8624, or in person at the box office.