Ballet company puts a Cuban twist on Frankenstein story
Chicagos' newest classical ballet company will make its debut next weekend with "Frankenstein Ballet," featuring original choreography and music that blends the traditional with Afro-Cuban moves and rhythms.
Co-directors and co-choreographers Guillermo Leyva and Suzanne Lek, both veterans of international ballet, put together a cast of nearly 40, including professional dancers from the Chicago area and other parts of the country, teenagers from the Chicago Academy for the Arts and children from the Irina Makkai Classical Ballet School in Highland Park.
Putting together the production in the last month has required up to six days of practice per week and late-night sessions with composer Hector Silveira, who created the original score, Leyva said.
The ballet is based on the classic novel "Frankenstein" written by British author Mary Shelley in the early 1800s. It tells of a monster -- Frankenstein -- who desperately wants to be human but can't reign in his destructive tendencies. The ending is a surprise, Leyva said.
Dancer Fidel Garcia, who plays the role of Frankenstein, said Alma Dance members have varying styles and backgrounds, which makes the ensemble all the more interesting. "It's a beautiful experience, because it's all quality people with great skill level, but we are all different," said Garcia, who is from Cuba and lives in New York.
Coming from a strictly classical background, dancing to the sound of congas is a lot of fun, said dancer Katherine Bruno, of Aurora. "This is pretty out of the ordinary for me, it's not so traditional and so strict," she said.
Although the show's themes might seem gory -- Frankenstein is made of body parts and there is a death scene -- it is geared to the whole family, Leyva said.
"These days kids don't know classical music. You play 'Swan Lake' or 'Don Quijote' for them, and they say, 'What is this?'," he said. "But ballet is beautiful, and it is important they know about it."
Levya, a native of Cuba who moved to the United States at age 28, is a former principal dancer with the Ballet Nacional de Cuba and the Joffrey Ballet. He has toured throughout Europe, South America and the Caribbean.
Co-director Lek was born in Great Britain and is a former dancer with the Ballet Company of Yugoslavia and the London Festival Ballet, now the English National Ballet.
Leyva and Lek met while teaching at the Irina Makkai Classical Ballet School.
Their new dance company is named "Alma," or "soul" in Spanish, as a tribute to the soulful nature of ballet, Leyva said. "To really be a dancer, you need the soul and the spirit. You need to show all your feelings, you have to dance and feel it in your blood," Leyva said.
Alma Dance Co. debuts with "Frankenstein Ballet'
If you go
What: Frankenstein Ballet by Alma Dance Company
When: 7:30 p.m. today, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Where: North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Boulevard, Skokie
Tickets: $44 for adults, $25 for children and students. Group discounts available.
Info: (847) 673-6300, www.northshorecenter.org, www.almadance.org