On April 10th, I went to the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre to sketch a dress rehearsal for The Little Mermaid with Robert Hill as the Artistic Director and choreographed by Katia Garza. I went in via the stage door and backstage ballerinas where busy stretching. Most of the dancers were very young middle school and high school students. It would have been nice to sketch from back stage but this was my first time ever sketching a ballet in town and I didn’t want to get in the way. There were lots of dancers and I wasn’t a part of this world . I made my way to the auditorium seating.
This was a full run through of the show with the dancers performing to recorded music and narration. I thought the narration was overkill but I imagine it was staged with younger viewers in mind. The costuming was quite elaborate. Ariel stood out from the blue undersea world in her bright pink costume. Rear screen projections did a great job of creating the undersea setting. When Ariel rose to the surface, a flock of young white sea gulls danced gracefully. As a princess, she had everything, but of course she wants what she doesn’t have. Legs are required for dancing. As any mermaid would do, she gave up her voice to walk beside her man and they lived happily ever after. After the run through, Katia gathered the dancers and shared notes. There was just one performance on April 13th and I’m certain it was amazing.