THE BALLET GOES TO BROADWAY Dance Revue Comes to JPAC in May

Jefferson Performing Arts Society will present a dance revue featuring Broadway musical dance favorites conceived, directed, and choreographed by Jefferson Ballet co-director Kenneth Beck with Kimberly Matulich-Beck. There are two performances only: Saturday, May 18 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 19 at 2:00 p.m. at Jefferson Performing Arts Center in Metairie.

Featuring an ensemble of over 40 local dancers and two visiting artists, the show will include a variety of dance styles, including tap, ballet, and jazz from eight  Broadway shows spanning from 1936-2000. The two visiting dancers are Chloe Slade and LeAnthony Douglas, featured in Beck’s 2022 presentation of The Nutcracker.

Despite its title, not all pieces are traditional ballet dances. “The definition of ‘ballet’ is ‘dance that tells a story’”, explains Beck,  who recently directed and choreographed JPAS’s production of Jesus Christ Superstar and annually directs The Nutcracker. “This show is an homage to some of the greatest dance storytelling in the history of Broadway.”

Musicals featured include Oklahoma! Damn Yankees, Singin’ in the Rain, Carousel, Billy Elliot, 42nd Street, On Your Toes, and West Side Story. Some of the pieces will include vocal accompaniment, and there will be narration by Beck in between pieces, to explain how the dances represent different eras in Broadway musical dance history.  

For example, two of the eight dance pieces (Oklahoma’s “Dream Ballet” and Carousel’s June is Busting Out All Over”) were originally choreographed by Agnes De Mille, whose invention of using dance to further the plot and to express the psychology of the characters historically changed the use of dance in musical theater.  Other pieces originally choreographed by George Balanchine, Gower Champion, and Bob Fosse, each represent a unique slice of Broadway dance history.

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