Madison Little as Princess Jasmine from Highlands Ballet's first production of 'Aladdin' in 2016
The Highlands Ballet Company continues to combine tradition, originality and an eye to the future. This time HBC draws on a time endearing tale of love, greed, drama, comedy and happy endings ... thus the story of “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp.” Performances are Friday April 28 at 6 p.m., and Sunday, April 30 at 2 p.m. at the McGlothlin Center for the Arts on the Emory & Henry Campus, Emory, Virginia.
The tale of Aladdin is found in “The Arabian Nights” stories, or “One Thousand and One Nights” ... a magical and enchanting collection of fairy tales of Middle Eastern origin. The “Arabian Nights” stories were first introduced to Europe in a French translation by Antoine Galland in 1704.
In The Highlands Ballet Production, Aladdin is an impoverished young ne’er-do-well and mischievous young lad. He is recruited by a sorcerer, Jafar, who passes himself off as the brother of Aladdin’s late father. This evil man convinces Aladdin of his good will by pretending to set up the lad as a wealthy merchant. The sorcerer’s real motive is to persuade young Aladdin to retrieve an ancient oil lamp from a magical but dangerous cave.
The Aladdin adventure begins as the curtain opens in the Sultan’s garden with his daughter, the beautiful Princess Jasmine, dancing with her friends. Their frivolity is disrupted by the entrance of the Sultan’s prime vizier, Jafar, and his annoying side kick bird, Iago. Unbeknownst to the bumbling Sultan, Jafar is an evil sorcerer planning to force marriage upon the beautiful Jasmine and thereby overthrowing the Sultan’s kingdom.
The audience is then transported to an ancient marketplace where the local street vendors ply their wares while surrounded by an array of hanging fabrics and tapestries. A group of young ladies dance gently with floating scarves as the mischievous Aladdin goes about the market playing pranks on the unsuspecting townsfolk who offer a charming variety of quaint dances. Aladdin is suddenly approached by Jafar. This sinister magician seeks to acquire the powers of a magical lamp now hidden in a remote cave. With the promise of riches, powers and a lovely maiden as reward, he enlists the aid of Aladdin to find the lamp.
As the curtain closes on the marketplace, the audience is once again transported, this time to a mysterious and dark underworld. Aladdin and his pet monkey, Abu, search the cave underworld where they are met by a magical carpet. The magic carpet warns Aladdin of the danger of removing any artifacts from the cave. Hidden treasures of the cave dance about as they search — gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires and more. But....alas....where is the lamp? The “Keepers of the Cave” are enraged when Abu attempts to steal a treasure chest, and a massive cave quake ensues. When the dust settles, the magic lamp is revealed in the rubble. As Aladdin polishes the lamp to reveal its beauty, a powerful Genie appears. Offering him three wishes in repayment for releasing her from the lamp prison, the Genie joins Aladdin and his menagerie of friends as the story continues to unfold to a joyous finale.
