Musical story of Peter and the Wolf at HPAC March 24-25

Many adults most likely remember, as youngsters, the Disney movie, Peter and the Wolf. At our home, we enjoyed the character Sonia, the duck because my younger sister’s name is Sonya. We listened to the record, read the book, marched around in character and enjoyed the film.

Manassas Ballet Theatre is reaching out to a new generation to introduce them to music, dance, theatre and orchestra through its production of Peter and the Wolf and More.

Amy Grant Wolfe, artistic director of the professional dance company, says the show will appeal to children as young as three. The production will be a “great family experience.”

For those unfamiliar with the story of Peter and the Wolf, it is a musical story written for a children’s theatre in Moscow by Sergei Pokofiev. Wolfe describes it as a “story ballet.”

The story is about young Peter and his animal friends, a bird and a duck, who go into a meadow where the bird and duck play in a pond. A cat tries to catch the bird, but the bird escapes. Peter’s grandfather warns him about the wolf that lurks in the woods and takes him home.

After they leave, the wolf comes into the meadow and captures the duck and then turns his attention to the bird and cat who are in the tree. Young Peter devises a plan to capture the wolf with a rope. The animals work with Peter to capture the wolf. Hunters arrive and help Peter take the wolf to a zoo. In celebration, a parade is formed. As they march onward, the duck, still alive, can be heard quacking from inside the wolf.

Each animal is characterized through an instrument from the orchestra. Wolfe says that this is great way to introduce children to orchestral instruments, theatre and dance. She promises the performance will be educational as well as entertaining. The costumes are great and she believes they will be very appealing to audiences of all ages.

Choreographed by Vadim Slatvitskiy, Peter and the Wolf, features several company dancers.  Marlen Alimanov perform the role of Peter and Jorden Kullos plays the antagonist, the wolf.  Peter’s animal friends will be danced by Jennifer Lober as the duck, Elaina Morgan as the cat and Charis Kullos as the bird. Hunters will be performed by Aleksy Kudrin and Vadim Slatvitskiy. Wren Meyers will play the grandfather.

In addition to the professional ballet company being accompanied by the Manassas Ballet Orchestra, the story will be narrated by Ken Elston, chair of George Mason’s Theatre department, so it will be sure to entertain.

Peter and the Wolf will be the conclusion of the evening as it takes it place in Act 3 of the production.

The “and More” part of the performance will be parts of the classical ballet, Les Sylphides and contemporary pieces choreographed by Wolfe. She explains that Les Sylphides will be Act 1 and will be approximately 20 minutes followed by an intermission. Wolfe says that Les Sylphides is a classical, white ballet that will be enjoyed because “it is pretty.” The music is by Frederic Chopin and has no plot. It is simply a dance reverie to be enjoyed.

Act 2 will consist of original choreography by Wolfe. The choreographed pieces are en pointe and she describes them as “contemporary.” Careful not to give away the concept of the unique combination of the two, she states that she selected Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony because she loves the music. It promises to be a treat.

Wolfe says the intermissions between each twenty minute section helps ensure that children can get up and move around and enjoy the performance.
Peter and the Wolf and More will be performed on March 24 at 7:30 p.m. and March 25 at 3 p.m. at the Hylton Performing Arts Center located at 10960 George Mason Circle in Manassas. Tickets can be purchased directly from the Hylton Performing Arts Center or through tickets.com by calling 1-888-945-2468.

Discounts for groups can be received by calling Manassas Ballet Theatre at 703-257-1811. In fact, Wolfe encourages families to get together and purchase tickets together so that they can receive the discount and expose their families to the grand production.

In addition to the March performance, Wolfe invites people to sponsor a swan. Wolfe explains that since the opening of the Hylton Performing Arts Center, Manassas Ballet Theatre had been working to rejuvinate props and costumes to make everything as beautiful and new as their new venue.
For their upcoming performance of Swan Lake, the costume mistress, Donna Hoffman-Pelot,  is hand sewing all new costumes for the production. In order to raise funds, patrons can adopt-a-swan and with donations of $25 or more, their names will be listed in the program with the photo of the dancer they sponsored. For more information, see Manassas Ballet’s website at http://www.manassasballet.org.