Mexican Tale Set to Dance in Free Nashville Ballet Performance 1/23

Through an on-going relationship with Belmont University, Nashville Ballet will present Borreguita and the Coyote, a children's ballet based on a classic Mexican folk tale Sunday, Jan. 23 at 2 p.m. in Belmont University's Massey Concert Hall.

The ballet and its accompanying narration tell the story of Borreguita ("little lamb" in Spanish), who avoids being eaten by a hungry coyote by outsmarting the coyote with her quick wit. The ballet, set to Spanish-style classical guitar, will delight children of all ages. This event is free and is general admission to the public.

"Our partnership with Belmont University allows us to bring ballet into the community and expose new audiences to this classic art form," Nashville Ballet Director of Artistic Operations Sharyn Mahoney said. "This multicultural performance also exposes audience members to a new language and a whole new set of folk stories."

Fox 17 reporter Eric Alvarez, who covers sports, entertainment and news for the local TV station, will narrate the performance. Dancers in Nashville Ballet's preprofessional company, Nashville Ballet 2, will dance in the work.

Artistic Director Paul Vasterling originally choreographed Borreguita and the Coyote in 1998 setting it to an original score by Belmont University School of Music professor John Pell, who is currently Coordinator of Guitar Studies at Belmont University. Belmont University School of Music faculty members and alumni will perform Pell's original composition during the performance.

Nashville Ballet is also partnering with Book'em, a literacy and reading advocacy organization to host a book drive at the performance. Book'em 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 children's books will be collected at the performance and donated to Book'em for distribution to needy families.

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.

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