As the lights dimed, a few teenage girls took positions on stage. The music began and the girls simultaneously moved gracefully as the lights and background adjusted to the mood of the songs. Springfield Ballet Company’s Rockballet trainees performed a mixture of ballet and modern dance to well-known songs and current radio hits. The ten songs were all performed by a live band called Downstate which consisted of about ten musicians. The dancers told a story and painted a scene with every song the band played. Interchanging costumes and dialogue shown through body movement drew the audience into a world of dance they never knew about.
The Springfield Ballet Company put on a show of twenty pre-teen and teen girls Sept. 15and 16. The dancers were trained throughout the year with choreographers who teach ballet, jazz, modern, tap, theatre, and character styles of dance. Although the SBC offers classes ranging from Pre-K through high school, this year’s performance was centered towards the older girls. Rockballet celebrated its 19th anniversary this past weekend at Sangamon Auditorium. This year the music selection consisted of Prince, Billy Joel, Goyte, Ke$ha, Adele and more which were appreciated by the audience.
“I loved the live band. That was the best part of the show. To have a live band play modern music to a mixture of an elegant dance such as ballet is amazing. I am so happy I saw this. It was awesome,” Brittany Henderson, junior at UIS, said.
Every fall Rockballet’s performance is at Sangamon Auditorium and has been since 1994. Influenced by Joffery Ballet’s successful production, Springfield Ballet Company really concentrates on the audience and the experience. From beginning to the end, the dancers filled the stage with the mixture of dance techniques. Each song transitioned from one to another as a story and it made the show similar to a play. With only three main choreographers on staff, Springfield Ballet Company functions as a unit accepting volunteers and new trainees often.
The crowd roared during the finale of Rockballet. All of the girls and one guy gathered on the stage each doing their own dance they chose. Parents waved, lifted flowers, whistled in appreciation, and shed tears. Not only is Rockballet an art event but also a family event. People of every age, culture, and ethnicity came to experience and support the beautiful recital.
Although classical music and sophistication is always associated with ballet, Springfield Ballet Company allows each dancer to show personality and individuality with different make-up, outfits, and solo routines during some of the dances. All of the girls were unison but a simple split, leg position or interaction with the live band allowed the audience to not focus only on the group. That production technique allowed the audience to watch the entire stage and also the background performers.
Springfield Ballet Company makes Rockballet a performance that everyone can relate to. The diversity of the production allows the audience to feel comfortable immediately. With the familiarity of spins and elegant movements of ballet, the production transitions the art of dance easily with the slow, medium, and fast paced songs. Rockballet truly is a sight to see to open one’s mind to different forms of art through dance.
The Springfield Ballet Company’s two hour event was an eye catching and attention grabbing performance that turned ballet into a new type of dancing. Hearing the top billboard songs to a ballet routine instead of the usual classical music redefined the art of dancing overall. The company will be performing The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty to round out their 2012-2013 performance session. Rockballet was only the first of a popular set of performances that Springfield Ballet Company has to offer.
