Last month, Ballet Theatre of Indiana announced that they will open their first season with the ballet “La Sylphide”. To prepare for the performance last weekend at the Howard Schrott Center for the Arts, dancers held a small event at Sunrise Senior Living in Carmel. The Ballet Theatre of Indiana is a newly-founded professional ballet company in the greater Indianapolis area and is committed to bringing back classics as well as creating new, contemporary works for the Indianapolis community.
“’La Sylphide’ is a ballet that, I feel, speaks strongly to the pitfalls of chasing perfection. While one should always be striving to do better, failing to recognize the opportunities and limitations of the real world can be detrimental to the point of being crippling,” says Artistic Director Stirling Matheson.
“La Sylphide” contrasts mortals with spirits and plays with the classic themes of love, betrayal, and revenge. Tickets will be available via the Schrott Center and on Ticketmaster.com. The company will also perform a mixed contemporary concert in May. The date and title are to be announced.
“We want our work at Ballet Theatre of Indiana to be accessible and interesting to people from all walks of life. Connecting to the community and finding ways to serve our audience are just as important as putting on mainstage productions,” said Artistic Director Sabrina Matheson. “Sometimes ballet gets put on a pedestal as an interesting artifact from another time, or looked down upon as a cutesy after-school occupation for little girls in pink tutus. But the fact is that the classics have endured because they can still speak to modern issues and good dance, whether old or new, has the power to speak to our deepest emotions as well as tell a story.”
