Whanganui Ballet and Dance Academy presents beautiful tale of the Beast

Mira Meijer as Belle and Sammy-Jo Rea as the Beast in Whanganui Ballet and Dance Academy's production of Beauty and the Beast.

Review
Beauty and the Beast
Whanganui Ballet & Dance Academy
Prince Edward Auditorium
Sunday March 29

It takes a vast array of talent to bring a ballet production to the stage and Whanganui Ballet & Dance Academy has it in spades.

Before the main production of Beauty and the Beast, there were solo and group dances which demonstrated the different dance styles taught at the academy.

The senior dancers presented classical and contemporary moves to Andrea Bocelli's Nelle Tue Mani and This Is Me from The Greatest Showman.

Mira Meijer performed a ballet solo choreographed by Marius Petipa to Bluebird from Sleeping Beauty and Shantae Arthur performed violin solos between the dance performances.

Not only did the young dancers excel in Beauty and the Beast, the lighting, sets and costumes made the academy's 2018 production one to remember.

Every dancer from the smallest to the tallest gave it their all and principal dancers Mira Meijer as Belle and Sammy-Jo Rea as the Beast erased memories of other beasts and beauties seen on the big screen.

Other standouts were Fynn Rees who danced as Chef and Mother, as well as taking the part of the Old Woman, and Sophie Carver-Vitens was a beautiful Lumiere.

Director Anna Chandulal and teacher Rebecca Marshall are to be congratulated for bringing their students up to such a high standard of performance.

Alma Meijer designed wonderful sets and I'm not sure whether it was her or Ruth van Leeuwen on lighting who was responsible for the three beautifully crafted pendant lightshades, but they were most elegant.

The costumes were superb — from the printed crabs on the chef's aprons to the Beast's mask — and I take my hat off to dressmaker Alice Paton.

The performance was followed by prizegiving for the 77 students who sat classical ballet and modern theatre exams and 14 students who sat NZAMD contemporary dance exams in 2017.