We drove down to Cuyahoga Falls recently to watch Ballet Excel Ohio (BXO) rehearse their latest production, Snow White.
Ballet Excel Ohio presents Snow White and Miss Spider’s Tea Party at Saturday March 9 and Sunday March 10 @ 2pm at the Akron Civic Theatre. For tickets go to BalletExcelOhio.org and click on Performances.
News Flash! In this ballet, good triumphs over evil. In this pre-professional youth ballet company, hardworking, talented young dancers make good on the local stage and the national scene. And BXO Artistic Director Mia Klinger reveals how she pulled her company back from a financial cliff hanger to continue providing ballet to minority and underserved youth.
Let’s assume you already know the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. We’ll describe this ballet in terms of the opportunities that choreographer Laszlo Berdo provides and what the dancers do with these opportunities.
The curtain goes up on Megan Murphy as the Evil Queen, a convincing villainess, as she dances, preening, before her Magic Mirror. When the Queen learns that Snow White is fairest of all (Rebecca Banig as Snow White is seen immediately, thanks to a scrim and a lighting change), she dispatches her four royal attendants who lurk and scuttle away in a danse grotesque to abduct Snow White and abandon her in the forest to die.
But not to worry. The forest animals rally around Snow White to soothe and protect her. Six tall girls in butterfly costumes are particularly notable for their strong pointe dancing and their radiant smiles. A girl and boy frog do lots of jumping complete with batterie. There’s also a pair of deer, a dove, an owl, and five impossibly cute baby bunnies. Costumes constructed by Janet Bolick make each animal charming and immediately identifiable.
Snow White eventually finds her way to the home of the Seven Dwarfs who provide boisterous energy throughout the rest of the ballet.
Learning from her Magic Mirror that Snow White lives, the Queen goes to her attendants but finds them helping themselves to her beauty supplies. This sets up a nice theatrical moment when the attendants put on their “uh-oh- busted” faces.
If you want a job done right, do it yourself. So the Queen prepares a poisoned scarf and visits Snow White. Shades of Bayadere, the Queen and Snow White do a scarf dance, and trusting Snow White does a series of chaine turns that wrap her in the deadly scarf. Snow White faints and seems to succumb to the poison. Fortunately, the dwarfs return home just in time and unwrap her, bringing her back to consciousness.
Persistent to a fault, the Queen disguises herself as an old woman and prepares a poisoned apple. Snow White is more suspicious this time but soon gives in to her trusting nature and takes the deadly bite. She falls down as if dead, is placed on her bier, and the dwarfs mourn. The Dove and the Owl dance a nice canon. The Prince, special guest dancer Levian Mondville of Cleveland Ballet, arrives to bestow the kiss. Everyone dances in a joyful finale, with Banig as Snow White performing unsupported* fouetté turns.
*Supported fouettés are much, much easier than unsupported fouettés. The Prince could have easily provided support but we suppose that choreographer Berdo wanted to give Banig a chance to show what she can do.
MEGAN MURPHY INTERVIEW
CoolCleveland: So you play the Evil Queen in Snow White.
Megan Murphy: That’s right.
CC: That’s arguably the best part in the ballet, even though Rebecca is Snow White, the heroine. The other half of the story is that you and Rebecca were both offered positions in Charlotte Ballet’s (CB) apprentice program.
MM: The trainee program.
CC: Thanks for clarifying. Did you audition for the position?
MM: I sent a video audition to CB that showed class work and pointe work and they reviewed it and offered me a position.
CC: Oh. I saw in your dancer profile that you had done summer study with CB in 2023 so I assumed that they looked you over then and offered you the position.
MM: They did. Last summer I went to the summer intensive and while I was there I got offered a trainee position for this fall but I turned it down to finish my senior year of high school. Then when I auditioned again with the video for the upcoming summer intensive, they accepted me right away into the trainee program.
CC: Please tell our readers what it’s like being a pre-professional ballet student with BXO. How many hours would you say you spend each day with BXO?
MM: I spend between 3 and 4 hours a day, 5 days a week in ballet classes. Then weekend rehearsals are noon to 4pm on Saturday and Sunday.
CC: A lot of time and energy. Meanwhile, you’re finishing high school and you’re active in Eagle Scouts. This is something that’s new for me, girls in Eagle Scouts.
MM: That’s right. I joined Boy Scouts and I do the same program as the boys.
CC: And that’s a substantial time commitment as well, right?
MM: Yes. There’s service hours, leadership, camping.
CC: And you develop skills to earn merit badges, right? What were some of the skills you learned?
MM: I learned how to build a fire. Cooking outdoors and indoors. Personal finance. First aid. I did a personal fitness merit badge where I just kept track of my workouts. You can also pick and choose, so I picked environmental science and water conservation.
CC: What other roles have you performed in BXO productions?
MM: Last year, BXO did Hansel and Gretel and I was the Cookie Witch, the evil witch in the story. When we did Beauty and the Beast, I was Chandelier, which is kind of like Lumière in the Disney version. Then I was in the corps de ballet when we did Snow Queen.
CC: All of which involved a lot of dancing en pointe. When did you start studying pointe?
MM: I think I was 9 years old when I went en pointe so I was on the younger side.
CC: And of course you already had a solid ballet technique by then. What would you tell someone who wanted to dance en pointe? When’s a good time to start?
MM: I think between 10 and 14 would be the best time to start. It depends on how strong your feet and ankles are so you don’t get injured. You need that strength.
CC: You’re home schooled. Does that give you more flexibility to work on ballet and scouting?
MM: I can make my own schedule so for instance, when I made my audition video, I rented out the studio during regular school hours.
CC: Can you count ballet and scouting as course work in your home school program?
MM: I’m not really sure. Probably scouting would be an extracurricular and ballet would be my gym credit.
CC: Ok. Here’s a more open-ended question. Talk about the in-studio experience of working on a ballet with your colleagues at BXO.
MM: Well, it’s a lot of fun, to begin with. It’s fun working with the other dancers to make sure we’re all together in the dances. Also, during rehearsals there’s a lot of time when you’re waiting on the side lines; that’s when you can work on stretches or turns. Now that I’m one of the older dancers in the company I like to help keep the younger dancers occupied. I might say, “Let’s work on our straddle splits.” We really like each other and we get together outside the studio to hang out.
I started dancing when I was two and a half years old so I don’t remember what I thought at the beginning, but I really like ballet. It’s never boring and there’s always something new to learn. I can challenge myself and set goals, which I think is very important.
A really cool thing about BXO is working with choreographers who work in professional companies. That’s a great way to make connections. Like Laszlo, who set Snow White on us, is in charge of the trainees at Charlotte Ballet so he already knew my dancing and knew he could work with me.
CC: Awesome answer. Thanks a lot. Have a great show and best of luck in Charlotte.
Interviewing Rebecca Banig, Snow White, we covered much of the same ground and got similar answers.
CoolCleveland: So, you’ve been offered a position in the trainee program of Charlotte Ballet. What was the audition process like?
Rebecca Banig: I didn’t audition as such, but when Laszlo Berdo came to BXO to choreograph Snow White he chose me to for the role of Snow White and, naturally, worked with me on the role. In the course of that work he offered me the trainee position.
CC: Yes. I see from the press materials that Laszlo Berdo is currently “the academy associate director of the pre-professional trainee division for Charlotte Ballet.” What are some of the other roles that you’ve danced with BXO?
RB: When we did Snow Queen, I was Anna, Elsa’s sister. In Beauty and the Beast, I was one of two people double cast as the Rose. When we did Hansel and Gretel, I was Gretel.
CC: You got a lot of good roles.
RB: Yes, but for my first role with BXO I was a piece of seaweed in Little Mermaid.
CC: We all have to start somewhere. May I say, your pointe technique looks nice and strong. When did you start working en pointe?
RB: Well, I started out taking dance as a kind of a hobby, which is nothing like the way that our pre-professional classes at BXO go. So by the time I actually started en pointe I was 12 or 13 — kind of old — and I was in class with girls who were nine or ten. It really pushed me to work harder to try extra hard to catch up.
CC: What would you tell someone who sees a ballet and wants to dance en pointe?
RB: I believe that if you are passionate enough about something, you have already accomplished your goal. Every dancer has their own journey. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else. At the end of the day we are all on a floating rock and our lives are worth living to the fullest.
CC: How much time do you spend on ballet – how many hours per day?
RB: It really depends. If it’s just one class it could be only two hours a day. But rehearsals can go on for three-five hours. On weekends, I’ll start at 10am and go into the afternoon.
CC: You go to Tallmadge High School, which is a public school. What do they do to accommodate your dancing?
RB: All my teachers have been very supportive. I’m in CCP (College Credit Plus) so I only take two classes a day at Tallmadge High School and the rest of my classes are CCP classes online with Kent State University.
CC: Ah! Love the flexibility of online classes. What else would you like to tell our readers?
RB: What makes our ballet company special is that you aren’t just watching dancers on stage, you are watching a family. Some of us grew up together from ages 9 to 18. That’s a lot of time spent creating a true bond. On stage you will see pure joy and love not just for dance, but for each other.
Also, I think that exposing younger generations to the arts is extremely important. Not every kid is going to fall in love with ballet when they watch a performance but there are also kids that will. I was one of those kids. The second I saw a live ballet, I knew I wanted to dance. Every time I see a live ballet I feel beyond inspired. It’s so important to let kids be exposed to all possible activities so they can find their passion.
CC: Thanks for sharing. Have a great show and best of luck in Charlotte.
Next we spoke with Mia Klinger, BXO Artistic Director.
CoolCleveland: When last we spoke back in March of 2020 BXO was in something of a cliff hanger. You’d just lost a major funder and soon afterwards COVID concerns led you to repeatedly postpone performances of Snow Queen. You’re still here. What happened?
Mia Klinger: I remember the last night before the world closed down for COVID. (Was it the evening of Wednesday 3/11/2020?) Tom Gold (the choreographer) and I finished a rehearsal at the Akron Civic Theatre and we stopped at a restaurant to get a bite. We were alone in that restaurant.
Did you ever get to perform Snow Queen?
Not until 2021.
What’s your funding picture now?
We were forced to think outside the box and work really hard on fundraising with smaller donors. We’ve had more success with community events rather than ballet events. Last year it was Bluegrass and Bourbon. This year it’s Wild West Oktoberfest. I do have more help now that we’re fundraising more successfully.
We are the only ones that do what we do. Half the company is underserved kids. Both in our classes and in our performances we’re opening up the world of the arts to children, changing the trajectory of their lives. I really believe in an education in the arts with high standards, not just participation trophies.
Your dancers are enthusiastic about dancing in this youth ballet company.
Yeah. We’re a team. We talk a lot about how we treat each other. We do a lot of group activities, a secret snowflake party, a sleep over. And you need that camaraderie in a group. Ballet is a team sport. Everybody’s important from Snow White to the Bunnies.
Learn more about Ballet Excel Ohio at BalletExcelOhio.org.
Ballet Excel Ohio presents Snow White and Miss Spider’s Tea Party at Saturday March 9 and Sunday March 10 @ 2pm at the Akron Civic Theatre. For tickets go to BalletExcelOhio.org and click on Performances.
[Written by Elsa Johnson and Victor Lucas]
Akron, OH 44308