Amherst Ballet
has been nice enough to let me sit in
on a couple rehearsals for their adaptation of Shim Chung.
With apologies to the dancers, I took some pictures.
They are amazingly talented young women.

The Dancers

 
Above: Margaret Woodbridge as Shim Chung (in red) dances among the sea weed on her descent to the ocean floor

Right: The seaweed dancers, coached by choreographer Sam Kenny (back) carry Margaret/Shim Chung.

There was one scary moment when Margaret, in slippery new toe shoes, fell. Maddison and I jumped. Margaret, ever the pro, took it in stride, but changed her shoes anyway.

 

 
Maddison as the little squid dances with the sinuous sleek sneeky supple eels

 
The coral really sets the mood making the bottom of the ocean sway with the deep sea tides

 
Sam and Maddison discuss how a squid would move.
She let all the girls improvise first to brainstorm.
Watching her create the underwater scenes right before my eyes has been an amazing experience!

SEE MADDISON'S SQUID COSTUME AS IT IS MADE

 


The Costumes

Shim Chung: The Blind Man's Daughter

While I have been hard at work on the narration, Therese Brady Donohue, who founded Amherst Ballet in 1976, has been working on the brilliant costumes for Shim Chung. Therese, along with her work on this project, has been concentrating on dance programs at the Eric Carle Museum based on his books.

   
 

 Above Left: The Gold Fish Costume--One of the challenges, according to costume designer Therese Brady Donohue, was to make sure the fish's fins didn't look like bird or angel wings. The silver fish, which are similar, are going to swim/fly on harnesses in the ballet, so that, too, had to be considered in the making of their costumes.

Above Right: Red Fish Costumes--The bathing cap style headpiece worked well because it does not cover the dancers' faces. Can you imagine how hard it would be to dance if you could not see?

Left: The Sea King Dragon Costume--The Sea King Dragon is 15 feet long and is on poles. It will take four dancers to carry it on stage.

READ MORE ABOUT HOW THESE COSTUMES WERE MADE



Red and Gold Fish pose for a photo shoot

Swan Lake

If you are expecting the traditional tutus of Swan Lake, you may be pleasantly surprised. Designer Jeff Bancan is taking great care to make sure the costumes look just like Rebecca Guay's stunning illustrations.

 
Jeff Bancan models the costume for the evil sorcerer Von Rothbart.
The dancer playing this role, Charles Flachs, will have a long white beard and, I suspect, shoes.

 

 The details on the swan maiden's costumes are enough to make any little girl want to be a dancer!

I keep wondering if they will let me wear one.
  

 



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