There's a Ballet-y New Musical in Town
The Degas sculpture that inspired it all.
If you’re an eagle-eyed reader of DS (and why wouldn’t you be?), you probably noticed an interesting little aside in our April “You Should Know” story about 14-year-old prima-in-the-making Madeleine Gardella.
The pint-sized ballerina, we learned, recently participated in the workshop for a new musical, Little Dancer, directed and choreographed by Broadway legend Susan Stroman. And Madeleine’s co-star in the workshop was none other than New York City Ballet principal Tiler Peck. Intriguing, no?
Well, now it’s official: Little Dancer, which was inspired by Edgar Degas’ world-famous “Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen” sculpture, is coming to D.C.’s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in October 2014. The show will “weave real history and fiction” to tell the story of Marie van Goethem, the young student who inspired Degas’ piece.
No casting for the show has been announced yet, but the use of talented ballerinas in the workshop wasn’t a fluke: Apparently the lead roles are built for serious dancers. And let’s just say no one at DS would be upset if Madeleine and Peck reprised their roles. Talk about a dream team!
