By Julia Chapman, CBC News
Posted: Oct 19, 2012 8:25 AM ET
Last Updated: Oct 19, 2012 8:24 AM ET
Bengt Jorgen asks his young audience for typical gestures – the wave of a hand to say hi or the tap of the wrist to say ' hurry up.'
"In ballet, we use gestures to make a bigger statement," he said.
A girl sitting in her mother's lap raises her hand. When called upon, she kisses her hand and sends it away.
'Blow a kiss," Jorgen said, asking one his dancers to demonstrate. "Let's blow a kiss for Hamilton."
The girl giggles as she receives a blown kiss from a tall, handsome ballet dancer. This is Ballet 101, a workshop run by Ballet Jorgen, a Toronto-based national ballet company.
The company brought their workshop to Hamilton Thursday, gearing the community up for their touring production of Swan Lake.
"We're Canada's local ballet company," Jorgen said. "We try to do work in the community like this show today and make sure there is access to ballet."
The dancers agree. "You get to meet the audience and see their reaction," said dancer Taylor Gill. "You see the direct affect. Some people have never seen ballet."
Whether you have seen the ballet or not, Jorgen's Swan Lake will be different from any other. While maintaining the classic feel of this famous ballet, Jorgen has set his performance in the Louisbourg Fortress in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
"We visit more Canadian communities than any other company," Jorgen said. "We want to reflect the communities we work in." The company also set their production of The Nutcracker in Algonquin Park in 1912, using Group of Seven paintings as a backdrop.
"We want to tell the story and open eyes to part of our heritage," he said. Jorgen's company has an important milestone this year. "It's the silver anniversary," Jorgen said, of the 25 years the company has been in operation. To celebrate, Jorgen is taking the Swan Lake production to 33 cities in 7 seven provinces. But no two performances are the same.
Each show uses local dancers. In Hamilton 12 young dancers were chosen to play minor roles in the production. "We auditioned with about 20 people," said 14-year-old Sarah Sparing who will play a 'Ballroom attendant'. "We tried out different roles to see how to emote each one."
"It's a really good performance to get experience," said Brynn Voigt, 13, who plays a 'child' in the local performance.
Both Voigt and Sparing are students at Hamilton's Cuban School of Ballet and hope to make a career out of dancing.
"Not all students have the chance to move to a big school and here they have the opportunity to participate in a professional production," said Jorgen. "We do it to support the community. We always use local dance students no matter how complicated it is."
With a company that travels frequently, finding rehearsal time can be a challenge. Voigt and Sparing admit they're both nervous – they get two rehearsals before the performance and Jorgen has high expectations."This is not a recital," he said. "They have to know the moves." But that's no problem, according to Jorgen. "[Hamilton is] great," he said. "There is a lot of dancing going on here."
Ballet Jorgen's Swan Lake will be performed Nov. 3 at the Hamilton Convention Centre.
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