By Mary Richardson

Colleen Cannon Benoit, artistic director of the Lake Area Ballet Theatre, and Randy Partin, assistant director of the McNeese State Banners Series, share a goal: they both want to present ballet to the people of southwestern Louisiana in a way that is artistically excellent, but also just plain fun to watch.

For the first time the two groups will co-present part of their seasons by offering a dual performance of the second act of the classical ballet “Swan Lake” and the narrative ballet of the beloved story, “Peter and the Wolf.”

“I think people will be surprised at how entertaining this program will be,” Benoit said.

The program will be presented three times. A performance for Banners Series members will take place at 7 p.m. on March 20 in the Rosa Hart Theatre of the Lake Charles Event Center, and again at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. on March 22 for Lake Area Ballet Theatre members.

The idea for the joint performance came from a long-term collaboration between Benoit and Partin.

“Randy was always a great supporter of the ballet,” Benoit said. “In the early days, he helped us with set building, then about 10 years ago he joined the board to help present “The Nutcracker” at Christmas. When Benoit first thought of this partnership, “I took the idea to Randy and Brook Hanemann (Banners Series director), and they ran with it.”

Both parts of the performance have a personal history for Benoit, as she has danced in both productions. “Swan Lake,” with the familiar, romantic music by Tchaikovsky, is the better known piece of the two, but Benoit said she thinks people will also be delighted with “Peter and the Wolf.” She remembers dancing in it in the late 1980s when Lake Charles Ballet Society for Ballet Joyeux performed it in area school gymnasiums under a program called “On Wheels.”

“I pulled it out of our repertoire because I wanted something that would be ‘user-friendly’ — something that is easy to watch and entertaining,” she said.

Each piece is about a half hour long. The entire “Swan Lake” is a daunting 31/2 hours, Benoit said, “so we selected Act II because it is visually stunning, and only about 35 minutes.”

A cast of 56 dancers will perform. In addition to 46 dancers in the Lake Area Ballet Theatre, Benoit is bringing in 10 guest artists. Professional dancer Michael Rodriguez will play the prince in “Swan Lake,” and Drew Anderson will play the evil sorcerer Rothbart.

Benoit said she persuaded Kevin Driscoll to play the grandfather in “Peter and the Wolf.”

“I’ve been dancing with Kevin since I was 13 years old,” she said, “so I pulled him out of ‘retirement’ to dance with us one more time.”

Benoit said she wants these performances to be family friendly, and enjoyable for audience members of all ages. “This event is a perfect opportunity for families to experience the magic of live ballet,” she said. “These dances have something for everyone, whether you are a lifelong ballet enthusiast or attending your first performance. We want everyone to have fun.”