Turn out for a fairy tale performance next weekend at the Mariner Theatre. Homer’s Motivity Dance School will perform “Swan Lake,” a “beautiful tragedy and fairy tale of love and trust” for three shows only on Friday, April 26 through Sunday, April 28.
Showtimes are 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday with a matinee showing at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are available at the Homer Bookstore, or for purchase online until April 26 at events.humanitix.com/the-swan-lake-ballet-cubs8xnu/tickets.
“Swan Lake” is co-choreographed by Breezy Berryman and Alison Arima. Berryman, daughter of Homer Nutcracker Ballet founder Jill Berryman, was involved with the Nutcracker herself for a number of years. She started Motivity as a dance collective for adults four years ago, wanting to collaborate with other modern dancers in town, she told Homer News last Thursday, April 11.
The collective performed “Ballet of the Birds” two years ago at Land’s End in conjunction with Homer’s annual Shorebird Festival. Last year, Berryman produced “Dancing through Wonderland” at the Mariner Theatre with a “small group of students … with a few adults,” she said.
Berryman connected with Arima, a “beautifully trained dancer and like-minded teacher” from Dance Theatre Fairbanks, this year after Arima moved to Homer and began working as a nurse at South Peninsula Hospital.
“We decided that we’d try to take (Swan Lake) on and do a lot of teaching again,” Berryman said. “So I feel like it’s the second year that I’m trying to found this school with the Motivity name.”
“Swan Lake” is traditionally a three-act ballet that runs nearly three hours long, with more than 120 dancers in a single show. Motivity Dance School will be performing a condensed adaptation of the ballet, with about 30 dancers ages 5 to 58 in a two-act show, running approximately an hour and a half and including an intermission.
“We have effectively been able to create the show on a smaller scale but with just as much energy and love poured into it,” Berryman wrote in an artist’s statement sent to Homer News on April 4.
Berryman originally wanted “Swan Lake” to be performed in conjunction with this year’s Shorebird Festival, as Motivity Dance School had done previously with “Ballet of the Birds.” Unfortunately, she said, the dates to collaborate didn’t coincide with the Mariner Theatre’s availability. The Shorebird Festival will take place the following week, running May 8-12.
However, in keeping with the theme, Berryman and Arima’s adaptation of “Swan Lake” includes birds from other ballets such as “Sleeping Beauty” and “The Firebird.” Community members are also invited to attend the performances dressed as their favorite bird character.
In her artist’s statement, Berryman wrote that a major component of the show’s success is the “highly trained leads.” Arima will be performing as Odette the Swan Queen, opposite Collin Trummel from the Oregon Ballet Theater as lead male danseur Prince Siegfried.
Trummel is also Berryman’s first cousin once removed who has previously performed in the Homer Nutcracker.
“He was here when he was 5. My mom had him in the Nutcracker as a bumblebee,” Berryman said. “He (also) was the Nutcracker a couple of times. He’s an amazing, beautiful dancer.”
The Motivity Dance School, currently located in the historic Art Barn, began preparing for “Swan Lake” in September 2023, ramping up rehearsals with more of the younger dancers in January, after the Christmas break, according to Berryman.
“I feel like the kids are mostly ready. A lot of the dancers are accomplished, and then the younger corps groups (are) really working hard to be a strong corps, because there’s a lot of exactness with the lines and the movements,” she said. “We’ve had a couple of dress rehearsals in the Art Barn, and then we can move into the (Mariner T)heater starting the week before the show.”
Among the production crew are Carla Klinker, who designed the show’s poster art and set, and the costume team including Jean Adams, Jill Berryman, Pat Brennan and Tiana Hopper.
Extra proceeds from “Swan Lake” ticket sales will go toward benefiting the Motivity Dance School and the creation of scholarships to assist dance students in attending summer workshops and classes. After the show, Berryman and Arima also plan to host an audition for Motivity Dance School.
“We are looking for dedicated youth and adults that are hoping to progress in their technical advancement,” Berryman wrote in her artist’s statement. “Alison and I are hoping to provide a fun yet strict environment with a unique structure, allowing for members to progress through ranks from the young Motivity Company to Junior Company and ultimately the Motivity Collective.”
Berryman also expressed interest in teaching other genres of dance, such as modern, tap or jazz, and expanding the classes that the school offers in the future.
For more information or to purchase tickets online, visit the Motivity Dance Collective Facebook page at www.facebook.com/motivitydance/.
(from left to right) Brenda Pennington, Isabelle Ostler and Aurora Springer rehearse as the Spanish Dancers on Thursday, April 4, 2024 at the Art Barn in Homer, Alaska for the Motivity Dance School’s upcoming performance of the Swan Lake ballet. Photo provided by Breezy Berryman
The Swan Corps, including dancers Aria Palma, Piper Arno, Isabelle Ostler, Brenda Pennington and Aurora Springer, rehearse on Thursday, April 4, 2024 at the Art Barn in Homer, Alaska for the Motivity Dance School’s upcoming performance of the Swan Lake ballet. Photo provided by Breezy Berryman
(from left to right) Brenda Pennington, Isabelle Ostler and Aurora Springer rehearse as the Spanish Princesses on Thursday, April 4, 2024 at the Art Barn in Homer, Alaska for the Motivity Dance School’s upcoming performance of the Swan Lake ballet. Photo provided by Breezy Berryman
