Ballet Idaho’s whimsical double hitter: ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ ‘Peter and the Wolf’
Ballet Idaho brings two beloved children’s stories to the stage this weekend with “Beauty and the Beast” by Bruce Wells, and a new, original version of Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf,” conceived and choreographed by Ballet Idaho Associate Artistic Director Anne Mueller.
The seeds for the program were planted before the 2020 COVID lockdown that curtailed the company’s season, literally the night before its spring concert. Both story ballets had been planned for different programs for a while, but then “pandemic, etc., etc., etc., changes, changes, changes,” over the 18-month break, things shuffled and they both landed on this concert.
They’re a good pairing, Mueller said over Zoom. “We have Belle, an awesome female heroine, and we have the boy hero, Peter, as the young protagonist.”
One leans more on traditional storybook ballet elements, such as fun character dances with tambourines, a beautiful, romantic pas de deux, and a happy ending at the finale. “Peter” is created through a contemporary lens, with a streamlined story, crafted by Mueller for her sleek production that exudes a contemporary feel against Andrew Boyce’s delightfully futuristic countryside set, and Mark Zappone’s whimsical animal costumes.
“There were some key points in the story where I was concerned we weren’t going to be able to pull that off on stage as described, so let’s rework this so we can really deliver,” Mueller said.
It’s a quirky story about a young boy, Peter, who lives with his grandfather in the county. On this day when he goes out to play with his friends Duck, Bird and Cat, he forgets to close the gate — and in comes the Wolf. That’s the basics. There are, of course, some story twists and comic turns as Peter tries to save his friends and capture the wolf — yes, capture not kill. But no spoilers. Just remember that things are not always as they seem, Mueller said.
As a choreographer, creating this story ballet is different from contemporary pieces like she did for the company’s pandemic holiday video. Mueller set a sweet holiday ballet to the soundtrack of the “Idaho Ho-Ho” music catalog. Then she could choose from all the festive songs by Idaho musicians.
Here she is constrained by the score Prokofiev wrote in 1936 as a children’s symphonic fairy tale. Each character is portrayed by a different instrument, such as strings for Peter, flute for Bird and oboe for Duck.
“So, musically, this is very specific,” she said. “You have to do at any moment what Prokofiev wants you to do, which, as a choreographer is a different kind of challenge.”
Within those confines, she stretched those standard characters into new shapes, being inspired by the original 1966 “Star Trek” TV series, and the litany of animal characters in the classical ballet canon, rather than the 1946 Disney animated cartoon.
“Like sometimes Duck is a frumpy character,” Mueller said. “I wanted her to be like ‘Glamour Duck’ so she’s almost this showgirl. Her outfit is outrageous with a big headdress, and there’s some showgirl style movement for her.”
This delightful pairing is a ballet for kids and families, she said, but also for first-time ballet goers. Both are relatively short — “Beauty” is about an hour and “Peter” is a little less than 40 minutes — and both feature narrators, so if you’re new to ballet, there is no chance you’ll get lost.
If you go
What: Ballet Idaho’s “Beauty and the “Beast” and “Peter and the Wolf”
When: 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday
Where: Morrison Center, 2201 W. Cesar Chavez Lane, Boise
Tickets: $39, $50, $63 at MorrisonCenter.com.
This story was originally published May 7, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
