Tinker Bell
Michele Saruwatari dances the role of Tinker Bell in a fun, bold Peter Pan — complete with a hip-hop crocodile. Sprinkle on some fairy dust - Peter Pan, Tinker Bell and the captain are flying into the Blaisdell this weekend. It’s Peter Pan, en pointe, complete with flying dancers, sword fights, pirate wenches and a hip-hopping, ticktocking crocodile.
By Alice Keesing
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sical ballet canon, so we had to develop our own physical ballet forms,” Webre says with a wry smile.
One result is a hip-hopping crocodile that, at one point, tangles in a tango with Captain Hook. Webre also has tweaked the choreography especially for Ballet Hawaii’s dancers. There is now a band of ragamuffins who tag around after the Lost Boys, while Tinker Bell has her own fluttering cadre of 16 attendants.
“We jokingly refer to them as ‘Tinker Toys,’” Webre says.
There are about 40 Ballet Hawaii dancers in the cast, along with five returning Hawaii dancers. They get to share the stage with professionals such as Cincinnati Ballet’s Janessa Touchet (Wendy) and Cervilio Miguel Amador (Peter), and Carolina Performing Arts Center’s Timour Bourtasenkov (Hook).
“We’ve got a great cast,” says Ballet Hawaii artistic director Pamela Taylor-Tongg. “We’re lucky because we’re able to bring in the top people, both in artistry and personality. They’re great role models for this year’s class and it really inspires them to greater heights.”
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To get the production off the ground, Ballet Hawaii also has brought in the famous aerial company Flying by Foy. Peter Pan really wouldn’t be Peter Pan without the flying. Flying by Foy has been giving the magic of flight to Peter Pans for decades, right back to Jean Arthur in 1950. It has provided flying theatrical effects for thousands of stage productions, musicals, operas, rock concerts and film and television shows all over the world. The list of celebrities it has flown stretches from David Bowie to Beyonce to Nadia Comaneci.
Hawaii dancer Mark Tucker (who just finished his first season with the Eugene Ballet) was looking forward to getting into the Blaisdell this week when they get to start practicing their high-wire acts. As a Lost Boy, Tucker has the lucky task of getting shot out of a canon.
“The flying really adds an extra dimension to the dance,” he says.
“This is a really fanciful ballet,” Taylor-Tongg adds. “There’s that part in the story when Wendy sees Peter outside the window, and she realizes that there’s a part of her that will never grow up. It’s so heartwarming, but there’s also a lot of comedy and lightness. This is definitely a ballet that is for the young - and the young at heart.”
Ballet Hawaii presents Peter Pan at Blaisdell Concert Hall Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. Tickets are priced from $35 to $75 and are available at Blaisdell Box Office,
www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-800-745-3000.
A pre-show Tinker Bell Pirate Party will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. on the lawn in front of the Blaisdell. There will be lunch - with pirate talk, grub and grog - a treasure hunt, storyteller and pirate photo-ops. Every child attending receives a special favor and VIP seating for the ballet. Tickets for the Tinker Bell Pirate Party are available only through the Ballet Hawaii office at Dole Cannery. Call 521-8600 for details and reservations.
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