Production: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Company: The Alberta Ballet

When: October 23 to 25 at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary and November 7 and 8 at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton

Reviewed By: Kristiana Barber (Calgary Correspondent)

I have always had a special place in my heart for ballet. There is something about the grace and beauty of a ballerina that seems nothing short of ethereal. However my own experiences with the art form have been less grace and beauty and more mental and physical anguish brought about by the immense level of discipline involved and, of course, the sheer terror of wearing a leotard in public. For these reasons my ballet slippers have taken up residence on the top shelf of my closet, using up space and collecting copious amounts of dust.

For anyone who shares my love of ballet, but like myself, would like to skip all the necessary practice and hard work, the Alberta Ballet provides the perfect way to live vicariously through some extremely talented dancers. The current production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream brings to life Shakespeare’s intricate plot of star crossed lovers and fairy magic. You have probably seen or read this tale before and spent many long hours of your adolescence analyzing its every nuance in an effort to extract the meaning carefully interwoven throughout the text. With all the work required to figure out a composition of this caliber one can only imagine the challenge of communicating it without any words. Somehow the choreography and this fabulous cast come together to far surpass this obstacle by presenting a cohesive and crystal clear performance. In collaboration with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, each brilliantly fluid and expressive movement perfectly showcases Shakespeare’s story.

From the moment the lights dim in the theater the audience is transported to a mystical wonderland where the paths of the lovers are twisted, mixed and matched by the playful fairies. The sets and costumes are nothing short of exquisite and work hand in hand with the choreography to captivate and amaze all who see it. The mischievous, troublemaker Puck (Yukichi Hattori) gave an absolutely brilliant performance and greatly contributed to the light-hearted warmth of the show. Yukichi Hattori's every movement seemed to expel bursts of energy and purpose and he was simply a pleasure to watch.

The Alberta Ballet’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is without a doubt worth the time and money to see. It is a fantastic, child appropriate work of art and is sure to inspire even the most cynical viewer to open their closet and dust off those old ballet slippers.