Tooele ballet academy students to perform new ballet with music written for them

TOOELE — Ballets typically include classic fairytales like “Cinderella,” “Swan Lake” or “Sleeping Beauty,” but the Tooele Valley Academy of Dance is preparing to perform its own, new ballet, inspired by a lesser-known Portuguese fairytale.

“The Enchanted Maiden” is full of the iconic romance, betrayal, forgiveness, magic and hope most ballets have, just in a brand-new story most people won’t recognize.

Tooele Valley Academy of Ballet Director Sarah Westhora said she toyed with doing other ballets for the company’s spring show, but figured if she was going to create a ballet from scratch, she should do one few people have ever heard of or seen.

“I wanted it to be a fairytale, something that’s already been written but is obscure enough, it can be authentically artistic,” Westhora said. “I Googled obscure fairytales. I came across this one called ‘The Enchanted Maiden,’ and it just sounded very balletic. As I read the story, I could just see it in my vision coming alive on the stage.”

Keep reading

• Ballet West remembers dance pioneer Bené Arnold
• Ballet West, Willam Christensen and the history of ballet in America