Nashville Ballet To Present Aesop's Fables as Free Public Performance, 1/29

Through an on-going relationship with Belmont University, Nashville Ballet will present Aesop's Fables, a children's ballet featuring four tales by the famous storyteller Sunday, Jan. 29 at 2 p.m. in Belmont University's Massey Concert Hall.

The stories of The Tortoise and the Hare, The Fox and The Crow, The Wind and the Sun and The Ants and the Grasshopper are woven together with an original narrative. These stories creatively depict Aesop winning his freedom from slavery through his cautionary storytelling. Audiences are transported from ancient Greece, with period costumes and elaborate masks, to present day as each of the four memorable fables come to life through dance. The ballet, which includes an interactive portion, will delight children of all ages. This event is free and is general admission to the public.

Dancers in Nashville Ballet's preprofessional company, Nashville Ballet 2, will dance in the work, originally choreographed by retired Nashville Ballet company dancer Kimberly Ratcliffe in 2006. Set to an original score composed by Belmont University School of Music Professor Emeritus Paul Goodwin, the performance also includes narration created by Nashville Public Library Children's Program Specialist Brian Hull.

Belmont University School of Music faculty members and students will perform the original composition during the performance.

At the performance, Nashville Ballet will also open its annual book drive benefitting Book'em, a literacy and reading advocacy organization that collects books and distributes them to financially challenged families who might not otherwise have books of their own. The organization also places reading volunteers to local preschools and elementary schools. Book'em donates an average of 25,000 books a year to children in Middle Tennessee.

All theater patrons are invited to bring children's books to the performance for donation to Book'em.

About Nashville Ballet
Nashville Ballet is the largest professional ballet company in Tennessee. As the second largest producing arts organization in the Middle Tennessee area, Nashville Ballet presents a varied repertoire of classical ballet and contemporary works by noted choreographers, including original works by Artistic Director Paul Vasterling. Nashville Ballet and the Second Company NB2 (a pre-professional training company) serve nearly 70,000 adults and children annually through performances and our outreach and community engagement programming. Our curriculum-based outreach program brings dance education to community centers, colleges, public libraries, eight resident schools, and public elementary and middle schools over a 15-county region throughout Middle Tennessee. The School of Nashville Ballet provides world-class instruction in ballet for the dancers of tomorrow.

http://www.nashvilleballet.com/