Surrealistic ‘Beauty and the Beast’ ballet comes to Logan
State Street Ballet’s “Beauty and the Beast” ditches dancing teacups for a surrealistic version of the classic story this week at Cache Valley’s Center for the Arts.
State Street Ballet, a performance company from Santa Barbara, first performed “Beauty and the Beast” in 2002. It was created as a full-length show enjoyable for both adults and kids, said David Eck, the production coordinator and technical adviser.
“There’s both comedy and tragedy,” Eck said. “It’s very diverse. We even have one of our principle male dancers dressed up as one of the stepsisters just to kind of liven it up because it’s such an ugly woman, it’s funny.”
Straying from the typical Disney story, the production stays true to the original version portrayed in the book, said director and company founder Rodney Gustafson.
“In America, we’ve been so traditionalized to think everything is Disney,” Gustafson said. “‘Beauty and the Beast’ was in existence as a story way before Disney picked it up and created the Disney version. This version holds a whole new take, so you won’t be seeing dancing teacups.”
The show holds the same plot as the version most people know: Beauty falls in love with Beast and deals with her father while the Beast wants something he feels he shouldn’t have because of his ugliness. Gustafson said that story is the same, but the show is also a depiction of the company’s perspective. Kate Kadow, who plays Beauty in the production, adds to that perspective.
“It’s kind of a dream because Belle was always my favorite Disney princess, so it’s close to my heart,” Kadow said. “I think this one is cool because it’s not the classic Disney version that people know. It’s based on the original novel which makes it different than the other ‘Beauty and the Beast’ that you’ve seen before. It stays true to the original story.”
Kadow described the show as a beautiful production with beautiful music, designed to make the audience feel something when watching it. Gustafson said the emotional aspects of the show inspires viewers.
“It’s taking that energy to make something beautiful that we can all feel and emulate inside ourselves,” Gustafson said. “That’s what theater is. It gives us a way to reflect on who we are and what our meaning is.”
Even if someone is not a big fan of ballet or has never been to a theater performance, Kadow said this as a great introduction to the arts for newcomers.
Eck said that though the show is more mature to reach a wider audience, the show still brings comedy and the mystical feel to the production, making it entertaining. It is also a great introduction to the arts for newcomers, Kadow said.
“Even if you’re not really into classical ballet or anything like that you can come to the show and enjoy it for the theater aspect and the acting and of course maybe enjoy the dancing and experience that, as well,” she said. “You don’t have to like ballet to like this show.”
The final showing of Beauty and the Beast is tonight at 7:30 P.M. at Cache Valley’s Center for the Arts on Main Street. Tickets start at $25.
For more information, visit cachearts.org.
— sadiejherrera@aggiemail.usu.edu