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Photos by Joseph Lyman
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Photos by Joseph Lyman
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Photos by Joseph Lyman
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Photos by Joseph Lyman
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Photos by Joseph Lyman
For the fourth consecutive holiday season, the volunteers and masterminds behind “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Christmas Ballet” are gearing up to enchant audiences with their interpretation of the popular flagship installment of author C.S. Lewis’ “Chronicles of Narnia” series. Presented by University Christian Fellowship – a regional campus ministry encompassing several area colleges and universities – the production has grown steadily over the past few years, with the help of several partnering organizations and more than 60 dancers and other volunteers who donate their time to the annual production.
The origins of this budding holiday tradition begin with the production’s executive director, Billy Henderson, who is also the co-founder and headmaster at Mars Hill Academy, a seventh- through 12th-grade homeschool cooperative built on the principles of classical education and Christian community. For Henderson, the productions have always been a natural extension of the Mars Hill Academy curriculum, which encourages the pursuit of truth and beauty and a classical view of life.
“Our students study Latin and logic and other classics – it’s a part of a greater vision for the arts,” Billy explained.
One of the school’s initiatives includes recognizing students’ talents and taking steps to cultivate them. So when Henderson realized around a decade ago that a lot of young girls at the school – including his own daughter, Keren – were developing interests and talents pertaining to ballet, he reached out to Sarah Henderson, founder of Nicholasville-based ballet company Gloria Deo School of the Arts, for her expertise and advice on how to help foster this creative outlet for his students.
Sarah Henderson (now related to Billy by marriage, after marrying his nephew Jake) began working with Billy in 2008 to bring his various concepts for ballets to life. Billy would provide Sarah ideas for productions, and she would choreograph the story for the young dancers, who came from their church as well as from Mars Hill Academy.
Photo by Joseph Lyman
Following the success of the early performances, the duo found themselves wanting to enhance the events and share them with a wider audience. Together, Billy and Sarah worked to further develop the performances, incorporating dancers from several area ballet schools. While searching for a new production a few years ago, the organizers found themselves enamored with C.S. Lewis’ story, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” and the idea for the current production was born.
“All great literature tries to capture your heart and shape your soul – this one captures your heart and shapes you in a good way,” said Billy, who serves as executive director for the production. (Sarah acts as choreographer and artistic director.)
Although not typically performed in a holiday context, organizers felt “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” – the first and most popular in Lewis’ “Chronicles of Narnia” series – to be fitting for the Christmas season: In addition to the wintry setting and enchanted, magical characters of Narnia – including Father Christmas himself – the story is rich with biblical allegories and themes, including hope and redemption.
According to organizers, the richness and complexity of the literary tale sets it apart from other holiday productions.
“There is a lot of Christmas [productions that are] ultimately a little bit thin in meaning,” said Ben Hughes, the ballet’s production manager. “I get to the end of ‘The Nutcracker’ and I think, ‘well, that was a nice trip around the globe but what was the point?’
“At the end of this one I go, ‘wow, there’s hope in the world,’” Hughes added. “I think people are hungry for something like this – a hopeful story around this time of year.”
That hunger has been well evidenced since the group began presenting annual ballet production in December 2014. That year’s inaugural event took place in the Singletary Center’s small recital hall, and after filling the theater twice, having to turn people away, organizers decided to add a third show that year. They moved the performance to Transylvania University’s Haggin Auditorium the next year, where it filled up for both shows, and then relocated last December to the large concert hall at the Singletary Center, where the show returns this year.
“We want to service as many people as would like to come, so we’ll keep growing if need be,” Billy added. Since receiving such positive feedback over the past three years, the group has committed to at least 10 years of continuing the tradition.
“When you’re there at the theater and the characters are right in front of you, you kind of feel like you’re part of the story, and you identify with them,” said Sarah. “A lot of our main dancers are coming back for the second or third year, and it’s really cool because I think every time they come back to play a character, they develop the story.”
Organizers go to great lengths to be as faithful to the original story as possible, honoring the sense of wonder and magic that are intrinsic to Lewis’ fantastical story. Much of this is accomplished by elaborate costumes and set design, which are inspired by the original drawings from the book and created by local volunteers.
Most of the seamstresses, who create the costumes and work to fix them up each year, are volunteers from area churches, including Lexington Christian Fellowship, Trinity Christian Fellowship and Jessamine Christian Fellowship.
One of the most popular stars of the show is the large, handcrafted puppet that portrays the story’s lion character, Aslan, handcrafted by Josh Gilpin and Seth Gover, two graduates of the University of Kentucky School of Architecture. With a body made of several layers of foam built onto a wooden skeleton and held together by “mountains of hot glue,” organizers say the character always elicits cheers from the audience when he enters the stage.
“It’s remarkable – the materials are all pretty pedestrian, but it really comes to life,” said Hughes. “They tweak it every year to make it more lifelike. They’re always grooming him to make it more real.”
Onstage, the puppet requires the talents of two puppeteers, who just so happen to be sisters.
“They both have dance backgrounds – ballet and modern dance – so they’re great because they can count the music,” Sarah explained.
The 20 dancers performing in the ballet come from a variety of dance schools, including Wilmore Christian Ballet, Gloria Deo School of the Arts and Kentucky Ballet Theatre. Additionally, Reinaldo Vergara Soto, a guest dancer from South Carolina’s Columbia City Ballet, will be taking on the role of Peter. Dancers range in age from 10 to 20-something.
With the performance, organizers have established a new Christmas tradition with broad appeal spanning many age ranges and demographics.
“It’s a great performance for all ages – kids love it and adults, too. It’s not necessarily a typical ballet,” explained Sarah. “There are lots of things that are exciting, like the battles. It tells the full story.”
A true labor of love, the production relies on the efforts of local volunteers, churches and businesses that donate their services, as well as private donors who help make free admission possible for attendees. The hope from producers is that performance-goers will walk away from the ballet with hearts full of hope and a humbling feeling of being part of something larger than themselves this holiday season.
“The beauty of the story itself transcends a lot of cultural stigma,” Hughes explained. “It really speaks to the heart, and it gets through to any personality.
“It’s hard to go to this ballet and not be moved in some way,” he added.
“The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Christmas Ballet”
Presented by University Christian Fellowship
Thursday, Dec. 21, 5 and 8 p.m.
The Singletary Center for the Arts
Visit lwwballet.com for more info.