This spring the public will have three chances to see the Allegheny Ballet Company’s performance of “A Night of Roald Dahl and Other Classics.”  TAHS freshman Amelia Woodcock will be performing with them.

The company will be performing the dance styles of jazz, modern, hip hop, tap, contemporary, and contemporary ballet along with their usual classical ballet.

The performance will be separated into three acts.  The first act is “Sleeping Beauty.”  This part of the performance is strictly classical ballet with choreography from the Royal Ballet and Jennifer Bryan.

Woodcock will be performing the parts of a diamond and a cat. The second act will be “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”  This part will include jazz, hip hop, tap, modern, and contemporary.  This act was choreographed by Brandon Porter.  The third act is “Fantastic Mr. Fox.”  This part is contemporary ballet, and Woodcock is playing the part of a mole. This act was choreographed by Allegheny Ballet’s director, Connor Weigand.

When Weigand spoke of how he choreographed “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” he said, “It is probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”

Weigand tries to add comedic details to his choreography to keep the performance exciting for everyone in the crowd.  He tells his dancers, “I want to keep all of the dads and brothers in the audience interested too!”

The dancers in the performance are very excited to be a part of the show.  Noah Mendum-Purdy, who is performing the roles of Mr. Fox, the Prince, and Puss in Boots, said that he really enjoys his roles and he loves that he gets to act along with his dancing.

While rehearsing for “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” Katarina Flores, who dances the role of Mrs. Rabbit, said, “This is so exciting!”

Amelia said that she had to practice “every day for two hours [but] I like that I get to act in it.”

The performance is scheduled for only two days.  The dates are June 8th at 7:30 PM and June 9th at 1:30 PM.  The performances will be held in the Wolf-Kuhn Theatre which is located on the Penn State Altoona campus.

In addition to these performances, the Allegheny Ballet Company will be performing excerpts from the show at the Blair County Arts Festival on Saturday, May 18th at 1:30 PM.  This performance will be held on the lawn area in front of the Wolf-Kuhn Theatre and in the Misciagna Family Center for the Performing Arts on the Penn State Altoona campus.  The admission to this performance is free and open to the public.

Allegheny Ballet Company can be contacted at 814-941-9944 for more information and to order tickets.