Oklahoma City ballet’s ‘Sleepy Hollow’ lively, enchanting
DANCE REVIEW
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Published: November 3, 2009
With the Oklahoma premiere of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” the Oklahoma City Ballet opened its second season as a reconstructed and reinvigorated metropolitan dance company. A charming story ballet based on Washington Irving’s tale of Ichabod Crane and the headless horseman, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” provided a pleasurable evening of family-friendly entertainment perfectly suited for All Hallow’s Eve.
Choreographed by
Alan Hineline to music by
Lanny Meyers, the
Oklahoma City Ballet, under the direction of
Robert Mills, was joined by the
Oklahoma City Philharmonic for this production. While the story on stage was at times hard to follow, the ballet had plenty of humor, beautiful sets and costumes, entertaining stage effects and lively dancing.
The ballet opened with the Hollows, spirit protectors of the town portrayed by female dancers who swirled about the stage with their chiffon skirts floating around them.
Emily Fine, who is as good an actress as she is a dancer, danced the role of the Lead Hollow. Her fluid and expressive movement throughout the performance contributed greatly to the success of the ballet.
Ichabod Crane was performed by
Anton Iakovlev, who though not as awkward as Irving’s story suggests, did an admirable job. Crane falls in love with Katrina, danced by Grace Medaugh, a new dancer with the company this year. Their first-act pas de deux was flirtatious and charming.
A standout scene in the production was the dream sequence in which Crane falls asleep near a large tree on his way home while thinking of Katrina. The Hollows appear out of the mist as his dreams are expressed in a pas de deux danced by
David Barocio and
Stephanie Foraker portraying the Dream Ichabod and Dream Katrina.
The conflict in the story comes when Brom Bones, danced by
Ronnie Underwood, wants Katrina as his own. Disguised as the headless horseman, Bones kidnaps Katrina. While Underwood is an excellent dancer, his performance as the villain of the ballet was not quite menacing enough to be a true bad guy.
Unlike the original story, Hineline’s ballet has a happy ending, with Crane and Katrina getting married. Their wedding celebration featured lovely dancing by the men and women of the company.
In addition to the artists of the Oklahoma City Ballet, this production included a number of children from its ballet school who performed with great enthusiasm.
— Kathleen Redwine
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