When it comes to Peter Pan, most would say they’ve seen Walt Disney’s cartoon version or the Broadway stage musical featuring Mary Martin ? but what about a ballet version?
The Grand Rapids Ballet Company (GRBC) is doing just that next month, and you’ll be able to see local resident Savannah Moeller mixed into the play about the boy who wouldn’t grow up.
Directed by the company’s Artistic Director, Gordon Peirce Schmidt, the ballet version of Peter Pan will be set to classical music favorites, like Rossini’s William Tell Overture, Gounod’s Funeral March for Marionettes and Saint-Sa’ns? Samson and Delilah, among others.
Created by Scottish novelist and playwright J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan is about a mischievous boy who flies and magically refuses to grow up.
He spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland amongst fairies and pirates.
Moeller, 10, a student at Oxford Elementary School, has been active in many forms of dance, like jazz, hip-hop and ballet, for the past six years. She currently takes classes at LA Dance in Lake Orion.
After two auditions last month, she, along with five other boys and four girls from southeast Michigan, were cast as Peter Pan’s gang of Lost Boys.
‘It’s totally fun,? Moeller said. ‘You get to act like you’re a baby again.?
For the next couple Sundays before the performance March 1, Moeller will be practicing her moves at the Detroit Opera House where the ballet is set to be performed.
But the practices aren’t that easy for a Lost Boy without their leader.
‘It’s really hard when Peter Pan isn’t there because we do a lot of interacting with him and the pirates,? she said, noting that the entire cast won’t practice together until the week before.
Although there are many scenes where Moeller will be on stage, there will be the occasional moments where she’s backstage ‘playing rock, paper, scissors? to kill the time.
To make her look more like a boy, Moeller said she will be made to look like she has a black eye, scars and dirty clothes.
Even though the show is supposed to be a ballet, Moeller said her parts require more non-verbal acting than dancing.
For instance, the Lost Boys get to pretend like they’re flying and shooting slingshots at pirates.
‘It’s not really that hard because it’s just pure fun,? she said. ‘I’m just really excited to do it and I think it’s a great experience.?
The Grand Rapids Ballet Company’s Peter Pan is scheduled to be perform at the Detroit Opera House on Saturday, March 1 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
For information on how to obtain tickets, visit www.motopera.org.