Twin Cities Ballet performs 'Narnia' at Ames Center

With a wardrobe that serves as a portal to another world, C.S. Lewis' fantasy "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" has enchanted children for decades.

The novel — full of magic, animals and mythical creatures — will spring to life in a new form when the Twin Cities Ballet Minnesota adapts the story for their upcoming ballet, "Narnia," which runs May 8-10 at the Ames Center in Burnsville.

The dance company, based at Ballet Royale Minnesota in Lake­ville, creates and performs an original story ballet each spring. In the past, they've choreographed "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Wizard of Oz." They've performed a version of "Cinderella" set in England during World War II.

Rick Vogt said he and his wife, Denise, co-directors who worked together to choreograph the piece, settled on "Narnia" this year because of the story's popularity.

"It's a fun story," he said. Also, there are plenty of roles for the young members of their academy to play. More than 90 dancers will perform in the production, playing foxes and hedgehogs to snow sprites and dryads, or forest spirits.

In story ballets, the tale is told entirely through dance, with no speaking roles. Like the book, the ballet takes place during World War II, when siblings Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie move to a professor's house in the country for protection from air raids. When exploring in the house, the children step into the wardrobe and are transported to Narnia, a magical land cast into permanent winter by the White Witch.

The evil witch, played by Jennifer Christie, "has a lot of power, but she's terrified of losing it and acts irrationally," said Christie. The witch fights for control of the woods with the good and noble Aslan the Lion, played by Andrew Lester.

Zoe Marinello-Kohn plays Lucy, a character she called "a dreamer" and "a wide-eyed child who wants to see good in everyone and everything."

The performers agreed that a favorite dance is when Lucy first enters Narnia and meets Mr. Tumnus, a strange faun holding an umbrella and carrying packages. He and Lucy have tea and dance together.

Other dances incorporate games like "Red Light, Green Light" and tag. There is a huge battle scene dance at the end.

Characters like Mr. and Mrs. Beaver provide some comedy, when they mimic the White Witch and Aslan.

"You need some of the comedic relief to balance out some of the more tender moments," said Lester, who, in addition to Aslan, plays Mr. Tumnus and a couple of smaller roles.

Those familiar with the book will see some unique characters and scenes in the ballet version. In "Narnia," there are "wolf-icorns," a cross between a wolf and a unicorn. Also, when children travel to the professor's house, they run into "land girls," women who left the cities to work on the land during World War II.

This ballet emphasizes Lucy's imagination, which "allows her to see things other people don't," said Marinello-Kohn.

For example, as the characters explore the mansion, they pass a large painting of a girl and poppies. Lucy steps into the painting and dances with them. In another room, suits of armor come to life and dance around her.

The modifications keep the story moving and make it work better as a dance performance, said Rick Vogt. For example, in the book, the witch turns creatures to stone.

"Well, that's kind of a boring dance," he said.

So in the ballet the witch traps struggling creatures under enchanted webs.

Growing ballet

Ballet Royale Minnesota, which started in 2009, has been steadily growing over the years. Twin Cities Ballet Minnesota always hired professional dancers on a contract basis for big productions, but in 2013, it hired on its first full-season group of professional, salaried dancers.

Last August, it moved to a new Ballet Royale Minnesota studio east of Interstate 35 that, with 8,600 square feet, doubles the previous space.

Vogt designed the new building, creating studios with sprung floors made for dancing, in-floor radiant heat, alcoves for stereo equipment and windows that provide plenty of natural light.

"I know what dancers need," said Vogt, who danced professionally for years.

It has a Pilates studio, and three large dance studios. Two of the studios, at 1,800 square feet each, are the size of the stage at the Ames Center, which allows the company to practice the full production in two different spaces, Vogt said. Also, the wall between them can be opened for an even larger practice area.

Marinello-Kohn said, "You can tell a ballet dancer created the space."

Liz Rolfsmeier is a Twin Cities-based freelance writer. Her e-mail is lizann­rolfsmeier@gmail.com.