Rhythm in Motion Dance Company in Kutztown presents the ballet, “Peter Pan,” Dec. 6 at 7 p.m., and Dec. 7 at 3 p.m., at the Kutztown Middle School.
Kelly Corman, owner and director, said they like to perform the classic fairy tale ballets and have performed Cinderella and Snow White and wanted to try Peter Pan.
“It’s a lot of fun to bring the fairy tale characters to life and see the reactions on our young audience members’ faces as they see some of their favorite characters magically come to life on stage,” said Corman.
Corman said some of the highlights of the performance are definitely the characters like when Peter Pan first appears in the nursery and then Tinker bell’s arrival as well.
“The many different scene and prop changes make this show a lot of fun to perform and to watch. The Indians, pirates, and mermaid scenes change the pace of the show in the second act and the dancers do a great job with their character roles and responsibilities,” said Corman.
Nicole Gagliardi, 15, Breinigsville, AKA Peter Pan, enjoyed interacting with everyone as they played their character.
“It’s really fun to become the character, to be sassy, and kind of to become a boy so it’s really fun to see the change from what I was as a person to who I am now,” said Gagliardi.
As Wendy Darling, Elizabeth Rarick, 15, Kutztown, loves dancing with Peter Pan because they’re really good friends. When not at practice in the studio, Rarick is in practice at home. She has the music on her computer so she can listen to it and go over it in her head trying to remember it all. She finds herself dancing at home all the time.
“She has the music, so she does do her practicing at home, knowing her timing and all of that, so coming here and seeing her dance just really brings tears to my eyes. I think she’s doing a fabulous job and I’m so proud of her from all that practicing that she does throughout the year to be able to do what she does and that’s perform,” said Lisa Rarick, Elizabeth’s mom.
Keara McDermott, 17, Kutztown, said her favorite scene was with the crocodile because she has to do a crazy zombie walk with the croc while under it’s spell and then is saved by Captain Hook. She likes when there is a lot of acting. McDermott has been dancing for five years and said Peter Pan so far is her favorite.
“I really enjoy it. I get to be quirky. I get to like over exaggerate all of my emotions and it’s just really great because I’m kind of there to support Captain Hook even though he’s mean to me and I’m just like, ‘It’s okay Captain. I’ve totally got your back for this,'” said McDermott. “I’m just naturally quirky so it was more or less just make everything bigger.”
McKenzie Sheetz, 16, Kutztown, loves spending every Saturday for three to four hours dancing with the same girls. As the infamous Captain Hook, Sheetz said her favorite parts are the interactions between Hook and Pan.
As the mischievous fairy, Tinker Bell, Katrina Fullington, 18, Fleetwood, said she loves the nursery scene because there are only five performers on stage for a longer period of time with a lot of acting and a lot of solo dancing. She feels there is more pressure when dancing in a big group.
The Challenges “This show has a lot of props and scene changes, so for us, one of the difficulties was working out the quick costume and scene changes. We need to make sure we have enough help back stage to make sure that all happens on time,” said Corman.
Corman added that they look for great technical ability in their lead dancers as well as stage presence, the ability to deliver a powerful performance and maintain their character.
“Ballets are completely presented to the audience with no verbal dialogue. The performance is entirely expressed through dance. Body presentation and expression are extremely important in conveying the show,” said Corman.
Gagliardi said the hardest thing for her was being a guy and being sassy because while she can put on the girl sass, it was very different to be a boy and be cocky and sassy.
“The hardest thing is probably remembering all the choreography; it was just so much,” said Elizabeth Rarick.
Definitely the hardest thing is being mean Smee, but like when we’re fighting the Indians and everything and I’m just like I’m not really mean, so that was definitely a challenge. I definitely had to be like, ‘I’m totally tough, I’m totally,'” said McDermott as she bounced with her fists poised like a boxer.
Sheetz has been dancing since she was three-years old and said the hardest thing was managing her time between school and all the other arts.
Fullington said being Tinkerbell was a bit different than the usual ballet with lots of smiling.
“Tinkerbell has to be a sassy little twerp, so that’s definitely been different. I’m trying to characterize that correctly,” said Fullington.
Meet the CastIf you would like to meet Peter Pan, Wendy, and all the others, there will be post performance activities.
“We have built a tree house and will have a party in the tree house with juice and cookies with the cast and our audience following each show. We also invite our young guests to use the back of our program, which is also a coloring book, and color with our cast,” said Corman.
Corman added that there will be a photo opportunity with props and cast following each show. You can have your picture taken on the pirate ship, in a teepee or with the lost boys in Neverland!
Tickets are on sale and are free for children two and younger. For more information, go to http://www.rimdco.com.
