The Mid-Ohio Valley Ballet Company will bring a classic tale to life on stage when it presents "Beauty and the Beast" in Marietta Friday.
The ballet will be presented at 7:30 p.m. in the Marietta High School auditorium.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for children and are available by calling 304-422-5538.
Tickets are also available from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at Sugden Books, 282 Front St., Marietta, and the MOVB office at 1311 Ann St. in Parkersburg, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. today.
The ballet is based on the famous fairy tale by Charles Lamb. The MOVB's production of "Beauty and the Beast" is an original work choreographed by Suzy Gunter, the company's artistic director.
Gunter said children around the world know and love fables and the moral lessons they teach. The natural progression of the heritage of fables serving as sources for ballet productions is apparent in many forms, she said. Many tales by famous storytellers like Hans Christian Anderson and Charles Perrault have been turned into ballets, movies and theater productions.
The story of "Beauty and the Beast" opens with a prologue explaining how an evil fairy once turned a prince into a beast after he stole roses from her garden. The young prince is doomed to live the rest of his life as an ugly beast unless he can convince a beautiful maiden of his true kindness.
The cast of the ballet features guest artist and MOVB alumnus Jason Tanner as Beauty's father. Company members Hannah Smith and Christian Kaftanic will portray Beauty and the Beast.
The sisters will be danced by Leah Baker and Belle Huffman, while Gunter will portray the evil fairy.
The show will also feature other company, apprentice and training members, including Emily Morris, Casey Harker, Kristen Robinson and Maria Patrella. An additional 40 students from the MOVB Academy of Fine Arts will perform various roles in the village scene.
The MOVB is a professional, nonprofit dance group that performs more than 100 concerts, lecture demonstrations and Arts in Education performances each year. The company has toured extensively throughout West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Ohio since 1983, presenting specially-produced one-hour versions of ballets through the "School Days Performing Arts Series."
The MOVB is funded in party by Artsbridge and the United Art Fund of Wood and Washington counties.
