"Once Upon a Time" features fairytales and nursery rhymes.
Over a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, which has darkened the stages of many theaters all over the world, Bristol Ballet is still providing the Tri-Cities community with safe, socially distanced performing arts events.
Despite the challenges of the pandemic, Bristol Ballet has continued to offer ballet instruction and performances to the region, just in a different way. After having to cancel the 2020 spring production of “The Sleeping Beauty” and pivoting to online classes for the remainder of the 2019-2020 season, the ballet has persevered in finding creative, safe ways to continue operating. The school was able to resume in person instruction following CDC guidelines in August.
In December, Bristol Ballet brought a production of “The Nutcracker” to the Moonlite Drive-In, in partnership with the Barter Theatre. It was a historic sequence of events – the first time “The Nutcracker” was put together using previously recorded scenes, combined with newly choreographed dances and filmed at multiple locations, the first time “The Nutcracker” has not been on the Paramount stage in many years, and the first time it has ever been shown at the Moonlite venue.
“Being creative by nature and in a creative profession, I took a challenging situation and found a way to make it work, with the help of our Managing Director, Moira Frazier Ostrander, and many volunteers,” said Michele Plescia, artistic director. “We gave the dancers a new and fun challenge, and offered the community an innovative, Covid-19 safe holiday event to actually attend in person.” Local videographer Bill McSpadden wove together excerpts of the 2019 production of “The Nutcracker” with newly choreographed sections of the ballet, filmed at various local venues including the Paramount Center for the Arts and Chateau Selah, a mountaintop venue with stunning views. The show was nearly sold out, and well received by a community who missed the performing arts.
This spring, Bristol Ballet continues to offer Covid-19 safe programming to the community by finishing out its 2020-2021 season with “Once Upon a Time,” a collection of fairytales, stories and excerpts from classical ballets. The production will be a gala-style suite of reinterpretations of many favorite stories. Expect to see fairytales and nursery rhymes ranging from Disney favorites like “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and “The Little Mermaid,” to familiar tales like“Goldilocks and the Three Bears” and “Little Bo Peep.” For the balletomane, there will also be excerpts from beloved classical ballets, including “Don Quixote,” “The Sleeping Beauty” and “Giselle.” This performance offers entertainment and delight for the whole family.
This time, the performance will be shown at another historic local drive-in theater: the Twin City Drive-In located in Bristol, Tennessee. This drive-in theater, just a mile from the iconic Bristol Motor Speedway, has been a popular summer destination for moviegoers since 1949.
The drive-in showing of “Once Upon a Time”is Monday, May 17 at 8:30 p.m., at the Twin City Drive-In. Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for children. They are available online at www.bristolballet.org.
