Ballet for kids offers animal theme

If children can sit through a television show, why can’t they sit through a ballet?

Particularly if the fish wear tutus, the elephants waltz, and turtles emerge from their shells to dance the can-can?

That’s what they do in “Carnival of the Animals,” part of Theatre Ballet of Spokane’s annual Children’s Concert on Saturday at The Met.

“It’s a zoological fantasy. The animals come alive,” said Dodie Askegard, Theatre Ballet’s artistic director.

Every year the dance company performs a kid-friendly ballet to introduce young people to the art form. This year’s selection balances whimsy with classic dancing to capture children’s imaginations.

The ballet features portraits of several animals, painted with music, movement and costumes. The experience is intended to challenge kids to think in ways they may not be accustomed to.

Askegard said one child at an elementary school performance this week struggled to comprehend that the ballerina fish were not real, because he could see them in front of him and they looked just like real fish.

“It opens up a different world for them,” she said. “They have to imagine things.”

Theatre Ballet has put on the annual Children’s Concert for 17 years and has brought the performance to area elementary schools for a decade.

This year, the company also performs excerpts from “Les Sylphides,” a classic ballet with live piano accompaniment.

The movements in that ballet, Askegard said, illustrate the Romantic era’s unrealistic idealization of women – a stark contrast to the playfulness of “Carnival of the Animals.”

“We’re looking to entertain as well as educate,” she said.

And if the kids will just watch it, ballet can do both.