Madison324web

advertiser spotlight
For more than 30 years, the Mississippi
Metropolitan Ballet has been a dynamic
force in enriching the cultural landscape of
central Mississippi. MMB, a pre-professional
and non-profit ballet company based in
Madison, brings the magic of dance into our
community through critically-acclaimed
performances, a commitment to quality dance education, and an extensive outreach
program that brings dance to children and communities that are typically underserved
by the arts. Artistic Director Jennifer Beasley and Artistic Associate Crystal Skelton
recently answered our questions regarding MMB and their upcoming performance of
“Alice in Wonderland” at Jackson Academy Performing Arts Center on March 23 and 24.
Jennifer Beasley
Artistic Director
Crystal Skelton
Artistic Associate
What inspired the choice of “Alice in
Wonderland” as the Mississippi Metropolitan
Ballet’s 2024 spring production?
Beasley Mississippi Metropolitan Ballet has created a
tradition of presenting beloved fairytale ballets each
spring throughout its 30 year history. Past productions
have included “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Little
Mermaid,” “Frozen Heart,” “Cinderella,”“The Princess
and the Pea,” and “Alice in Wonderland.” We have
presented “Alice in Wonderland” a couple of times
since the company’s inception, and I choreographed
our original version more than 25 years ago. In 2018,
Artistic Associate Crystal Skelton and I decided that it
was time to bring a fresh, more elaborate production
into our repertoire that would better suit our bigger,
more resource-rich, company.
Skelton We began to research possible choreographers
for a new production of “Alice,” and as members
of the Southeastern Regional Ballet Association/
Regional Dance America, we were connected to a
network rich with talented options. After considering
several possibilities, we contacted Charles Maple,
a former dancer with New York’s American Ballet
Theatre who had recently created a critically-acclaimed
production of “Alice” with his own company, the Maple
Youth Ballet in Irvine, California. We were able to
watch some video of his production and we knew, right
away, this was the way to go. The choreography was
brilliant, the sets and costumes bright and inventive,
and the special effects totally stunning. The moment
we started a conversation with Mr. Maple about how
to bring his production to Mississippi is when we fell
down the rabbit hole and started a new adventure! We
had such an overwhelming response to our 2019
production and so much hard work went into the
creation that we felt this would be the perfect time for
the company to bring it back to the stage this season.
52 • MARCH 2024
Could you provide insights into the
collaboration between choreographers,
costume designers, and set designers in
bringing the production to life?
Beasley With so many quirky characters and
whimsical moments in this “Wonderland” came the
need for a lot of quirky costumes and whimsical set
pieces, all of which needed to be created from scratch.
This is where the army of volunteers and parents set to
work—from creating both Alice’s iconic dress and a
miniature matching version for “Little Alice,” to
constructing 18 petal costumes from foam, to creating
unicorn horns and tails, hedgehog costumes,
Tweedledee and Tweedledum’s suspenders and beanie
hats, the Queen’s elaborate red dress and red wig, and
the Cheshire Cat’s handpainted pink and purple
catsuit. Producing costumes for each of the ballet’s
more than 100 roles was a huge task. MMB recruited
current and past dancer parents who possessed sewing
skills, and they tackled the challenge over several weeks.
Additionally, MMB brought in Mr. Steven Inskeep,
the designer of Mr. Maple’s original “Alice in
Wonderland” at the Maple Youth Ballet, who worked
with MMB’s volunteer costume crew to instruct and
assist in creating costumes, headpieces, and props while
he was in residence with MMB for more than a week
in February in 2019. We set up what was basically a
costume factory in one of our volunteer’s garage for
that week, churning out petal costumes, bumblebee
headpieces, mushroom, spider, and ladybug costumes…
you name it. Mr. Inskeep and our volunteers worked
13- 14 hour days and accomplished in one week what
Mr. Inskeep said took him more than 2 months when
he did the original production with Mr. Maple.
Are there any unique elements in this
performance of “Alice in Wonderland”
that the audience can look forward to?
Beasley One of the main selling points for MMB in
acquiring Mr. Maple’s “Alice in Wonderland” was his
use of special effects. When we watched the video clips
of his DVD, the camera followed the White Rabbit as
he jumped off the front of the stage, presumably down
the rabbit hole, and then Alice followed him. Next the
camera panned up and there was Alice, suspended in
mid-air as she tumbled and tumbled. Our jaws
dropped! It was such a cool effect. To achieve this, we
cast a double for Alice (‘Tumbling Alice’) who hangs
from rigging above the stage that will be provided and
supervised by the professional theatrical flying service,
ZFX Flying Effects, which is considered the most
prolific and widely-respected theatrical flying service in
the world, and will send a flying director to
Mississippi mid-March to conduct all aspects of this
special effect in MMB’s show. There are several other
fantastic special touches and effects employed in the
production, but I hesitate to disclose too many of
our secrets. We hope to keep our potential audience
curious enough to come and see for themselves!
In what way does “Alice in Wonderland”
showcase the technical and artistic
capabilities of the Mississippi Metropolitan
Ballet dancers?
Beasley There are many roles in “Alice in Wonderland”
for dancers of all ages which is one reason it was
appealing to our company. In selecting ‘Alice’ for our
2024 spring production, we actually had many
candidates. Mr. Maple was here in the summer of 2023
teaching at our Summer Intensive and selected a few
dancers at that time to learn selections of each featured
role as an audition. These dancers worked on the
choreography and auditioned again in January. We
narrowed it down to four candidates, and after many
videos being viewed by Mr. Maple, MMB soloist
dancer Rebecca Trowbridge was selected for the role.
Trowbridge, a senior at Madison Ridgeland Academy
and a dancer with MMDA/MMB since the age of 8,
was a perfect fit for the role. Trowbridge is both an
accomplished technical dancer and a talented actress.
Skelton I just knew from the beginning of rehearsals
that she would excel in bringing the role of Alice to life.
Obviously Alice has to carry the ballet. These are
Alice’s adventures in Wonderland, and there are many
of them! Alice is a tough role because she is in virtually
every scene. It requires a lot of stamina and technical
prowess, as well as a wide range of emotions. Alice