Ahoy, landlubbers! The School of Nashville Ballet is thrilled to collaborate for a second time with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. As part of their Pied Piper Children’s series, the Symphony has asked SNB to take the stage for Halloween on the High Seas, a swashbuckling tale of scurvy pirates and fantastical sea creatures.

SNB is uniquely privileged to be offered this opportunity, and dancers from our levels 3 – 6 have been rehearsing diligently since August. With choreography from our very own Gonzalo Espinoza and original costuming from Linda Coulter, you are sure to be spellbound at the stunning visuals and spectacular sounds conducted by Kelly Corcoran (wife of SNB’s esteemed accompanist, Joshua Carter) and performed by her first mates.

Halloween on the High Seas will make its splash this Saturday, October 31^st at 11 A.M at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Tickets are available through the Nashville Symphony (www.nashvillesymphony.org).

The Pied Piper Children’s series at the Nashville Symphony strives to provide educational entertainment for children and their families around Nashville. With four shows lined up this season, Nashville is going to get a heavy dose of cultural excitement!

-Rachel Norfleet

I have been struggling to write about Giselle, because there is so much that can be said. I was going to give some history, and then I was going to give a little analysis. . . Giselle is a ballet that lends itself to verbiage. But when it came right down to it, what I wanted to write about was how wonderful it has been to be a part of this process. This is the first full-length ballet I have ever performed, aside from Nutcracker, and I have felt so privileged to witness its development, from the first day of rehearsal through to the performance-ready stage at which it is now.

Given that it’s a tragedy, Giselle can be a fun ballet. I find myself sitting through much of Act 1 with a grin from ear to ear. Part of that is pure delight — I get to watch this every day, see the ballet get stronger and cleaner with each rehearsal, see the subtle differences in each performance that make ballet the ephemeral art form it is. Part of it also is that there are little moments of humor in Giselle. Watch the dancers standing onstage and there is almost always some improvised witticism. Or take the darling way Giselle plays hard-to-get with Albrecht. It’s so sweet — I think I smile every time Albrecht scooches her off that bench! Ultimately, of course, it’s all high drama, but along the way it’s worth it to lose oneself as a happy peasant.

When we started learning the ballet, I got a continuous thrill out of the sense that I was participating in something historic. Giselle is a very old ballet (it had its premiere in 1841), and to be dancing these steps (those arabesque chugs!) to this music, which I have heard so many times, well, it makes one pause and consider.

There is one final thing that I must say. A group of students was touring the ballet last spring and someone asked what inspired us. One of the dancers replied, “We inspire each other.” Watching Giselle, day after day, that comment has been proved true for me time and again.

– EG

The name Giselle means ”pledge” and also means “hostage”. I was interested in knowing what her name meant so, last night, I did a little research on the name using a baby name site on the internet. As an  actress and director, I have always been extremely interested in researching the plays I have performed or directed by tearing apart every element- the title, character’s names, the setting for a play, the time frame, and more- playwrites usually don’t choose random names, settings, time periods, and stage directions or notes- they are very deliberate in their choices because each of these elements relates to the deeper meaning of the play and are an additional means of communicating a theme, idea, or metaphor the playwrite hopes to express through the dialogue, subtext, and action of the play. It is the same in the world of ballet, opera, literature, and musical theatre. The name of the main character, which is also the title of the famous ballet Giselle is highly significant when you consider the pledge of love and devotion that Giselle makes to her love, Albrecht, (which means noble, bright, and famous, by the way.)

I pondered the story of Giselle for quite a while last night. It is really quite a powerful story of ultimate revenge for me- and, of course, a blog is based on opinion many times. Myrtha is the the Queen of the Wilis, which are a legion of ladies who have been scorned by their lovers and died and who haunt the woods at night in their ghostly gowns seeking revenge on any man they find in the forest. In true ballet fashion they dance him to death!!!! In my opinion, Giselle, who also becomes a Wili herself after being scorned by Albrecht, becomes far more powerful than Myrtha and all the Wilis combined at the close of this ballet, considering she saves Albrecht from his death when he is caught in the forest. If Giselle chooses to let Albrecht die in true Wili fashion then his pain of losing her is short-lived, as is her revenge. For Albrecht to remain alive, separated by death from his beloved Giselle, he must endure the pain of her absence for the remainder of his living days! That is long term revenge and very powerful!

Now as I stressed, this is my opinion, and that is what makes a great ballet, play, opera, or story in literature so wonderful-the fact that we can experience each work uniquely and relate to its meaning in a very different and personal way. I would like to know what you think? If you are familiar with the story of Giselle, post a comment of your own.

Cathy Ratliff- Director of Education