Stories such as Aladdin are timeless and great for all ages but the best opportunities to judge how interpretations of these classic tales in the performing arts resonate with young audiences is to ask them to take the reviewer’s seat. Recently, The Utah Review, with the assistance of Christal Jackson, an English teacher and ELL coordinator at City Academy in Salt Lake City, recruited two students to review the Ballet West revival of Aladdin as part of the company’s Family Classics Series.
The Family Classic Series has featured some of popular culture’s best-known fairy tales and fantasy stories including Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid and Snow White. Aladdin is perhaps the best known hero of the The Thousand and One Nights (also known as The Arabian Nights) collection of stories. Literary scholar Muhsin al-Musawi who has written extensively about the stories, said in an interview published elsewhere that “the continuing popularity is twofold: It relates to the Nights being a treasure of tales, and also significantly involves the art of fiction as the source of a perennial human desire for life. Narrative equals life, and Scheherazade, the character who narrates the Arabian Nights, survives her ordeal through narrative. Her duplicates are many in this treasury of tales, including mendicants and barbers. For contemporary novelists, she stands for an ongoing narrative art, undying for being creative.”
Photo Credit: Beau Pearson.
Ballet West’s Aladdin was suited for younger audience members, which has a shorter running time (65 minutes in two acts, including an intermission) and included a narrator. This production offered a bounty of eye-popping theatrical elements, including an innovative rolling magic carpet that glides through a cloud-filled sky and a comedic dancing camel en pointe. Choreographed by Pamela Robinson-Harris and Peggy Dolkas, the ballet featured members of Ballet West II and Ballet West Academy students.
Of particular note were the dancing characters of animals, including the camel, a tiger cub, a snake turned into a rat (a nice hat tip to the company’s legendary Nutcracker production). The camel requires two dancers, with one handling the head and the other taking duties as the hump — challenging considering that without the best peripheral vision, the hump has the opening for dancers to see where they are maneuvering. The cast is substantial, with 57 dancers. The accompanying music comprises Khatchaturian, Kabalevsky, Sibelius, Grieg, Nielsen, Rimsky-Korsakov, Dvorak and others. Aladdin had the feel of Ballet West’s mighty and famous productions such as The Nutcracker and Cinderella.
Let’s hear from our guest reviewers:
Savanna Palacios is a junior at City Academy in Salt Lake City. This is her second time reviewing a Ballet West production for The Utah Review. She has grown to love theater through her playwriting class at school.
Aladdin, the ballet, was an amazing production. What I really love about the ballet was the beautiful costumes and set designs. The sparkly, colorful costumes were always so impressive as a new character came out on stage. My favorite costume was Kalila’s because hers was especially sparkly and while dancing, and the light made them twinkle so prettily. Not only was the dancing beautiful, the music helped really portray the story. I especially liked when the Evil Sorcerer was doing his evil laugh, which made the scene suspenseful but also funny at the same time.
Photo Credit: Beau Pearson.
This was my first ballet where there was some narration and I do have to say that I enjoyed it. It helped me understand the story a lot better and really set the scene. My favorite part was the wedding. Like I said, the costumes and beautiful dancing were something I really enjoyed and I got to see a lot of that in the wedding scene. What stood out about this scene were the wedding performers, especially the jewels. I absolutely loved their costumes and the beautiful music they danced to. There were dancers on the stage watching the wedding with Aladdin and Kalila and they were even mesmerized by their dancing. Aladdin and Kalila got the happy ending they deserved and the Evil Sorcerer got the ending he deserved too, by turning into a rat!
The whole crowd was laughing at that because it was unexpected. Overall, there was great attention to detail and attention put into this ballet and it did not go unnoticed. There were suspenseful and humorous aspects to it which always gets the crowd going. I’m glad I was able to see this production. I suggest people my age watch ballets like these because it’s so fun to revisit our childhood stories in a new way.
Photo Credit: Beau Pearson.
Arturo Alvarez is a senior at City Academy with an interest in exploring different forms of art and culture. While he is new to the world of theater, he enjoys reviewing foods around Salt Lake City. He is excited to see more ballet. Through his review, Arturo aims to capture the essence of the show in a way that’s relatable and engaging for those who might be new to the theater, just like him.
Aladdin was a very beautiful and well written ballet. From the beginning to the end it had my full attention. The dancers did an amazing job at doing their part. They knew exactly how to show their emotions and tell their actions through the way they moved. For example, when the dancer Aladdin and Malik were being attacked by the evil sorcerer, the audience could immediately tell their frightened expression in their actions, which gave it a lot of suspense.
Even the children watching the ballet understood the story very well. The music choice especially was very good in changing the tone and mood of the ballet when watching it. One big music change came when Aladdin’s uncle arrived to take him on the trip and the setting and music moved so well from a happy trip to an ominous feeling at the cave. My favorite part was when they were married and everyone was dancing. The costumes were very pretty and eye-catching during the wedding, shining and sparkling when dancing and everyone on stage made it all so beautiful in general. In my opinion more people should watch this ballet; even though I didn’t really understand dancing, I ended up leaving the theater liking the ballet a lot.