LABT’s Spring Gala: A mixed repertoire
Published 6:00 pm Thursday, March 22, 2018
“Degas Dancers” is among the repertoire of vignette ballet performances LABT will present at the Spring Gala.
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It isn’t too late to grab tickets to the Lake Area Ballet Theatre’s annual Spring Gala ballet showcase, which will take place at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Rosa Hart Theatre at the Lake Charles Civic Center.
Featuring more than 50 local dancers, the production will be headed up by Colleen Benoit, artistic director of the ballet company, with guest choreographers KaLinda LeJune and Libby Tete Looney.
Guests artists include Dr. Lonny Benoit and the McNeese Steel Drum Band.
Colleen Benoit said the line-up of talent will feature a colorful selection of “vignette ballet performances.”
The performances will include: “Degas Dancers,” a ballet incorporating elements from the impressionist artist Edgar Degas’ ballet paintings; “Concerto,” a new work choreographed by Benoit to the music of Antonio Vivaldi; “An American in Paris,” a work choreographed by Looney to the music of Gershwin and featuring a mix of ballet, tap and ballroom, and “Untitled,” a work choreographed by Lejune and accompanied by McNeese’s steel drum band, featuring calypso music and dance.
LABT Artistic Director Colleen Benoit
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“The great thing about our Spring Gala is that it’s what we call a mixed repertoire, so we have things that will appeal to a wide variety of people,” Benoit said.
She said “Concerto” will feature some of the things she loves best about ballet — “lines and technique.”
“I love Balanchine (co-founder of the New York City Ballet) and this piece is pure classical ballet,” she said. “It will feature 10 dancers and those beautiful and simple elements of lines and technique.”
She said every work that will be performed in the gala is “special and unique.”
Benoit said the mission of the Lake Area Ballet Theatre is to stage full-scale ballet productions, provide new and innovative works and develop the next generation of local dancers.
Tickets, which are $25, can be purchased online at www.lakeareaballettheatre.com.
For more information, call 337-478-1654.
