Inland Pacific Ballet Presents THE LITTLE MERMAID

Inland Pacific Ballet returns this spring with its spectacular landmark production of The Little Mermaid, the classic tale for all ages about the young mermaid willing to give up her life in the sea for love. Inland Pacific Ballet's colorful and engaging production combines dance and imaginative puppetry to create a magical ocean world with a cast of delightful sea creatures, magnificent sets, and elaborate costumes. Aerial technology and creative lighting enhance the underwater illusion and bring The Little Mermaid to life in this enchanting undersea adventure. Four performances only at Lewis Family Playhouse in Rancho Cucamonga; Saturday, April 4 at 11:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.; and Sunday, April 5 at 11:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

Set under and above the high seas, the resulting ballet production has been hailed as "... visually stunning.... an underwater Lion King," where "puppetry and dancing combine to create a magical ocean world." Audiences young and old will enjoy The Little Mermaid where under-the-sea creatures are a feast for the eyes.

Based on the original fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, and brought to pop culture by Disney animation, The Little Mermaid is a story of young love from two very different worlds. The mermaid princess leaves her underwater paradise and meets a handsome prince on the surface. As the story unfolds, she must decide how much she is willing to sacrifice for her new-found love. Unlike the dark ending of the original story, this original ballet from Inland Pacific Ballet has created a surprise ending that adds to the enjoyment of the traditional tale.

"There is more than one way to tell a story! Audiences should know this is not the Disney version, and we are celebrated for the originality of our magical re-telling of this classic story," says Artistic Director, Victoria Koenig. "Audiences are captivated. Our artistic body of work, developed over 25 years, has been dedicated to creativity, beauty, originality, and to celebrating the imagination, both for our general audiences and for the more than 150,000 young audiences we have served. We have introduced audiences young and old to the magic of storytelling through dance, the soaring power of classical music, the inspiring athleticism of live dancers on stage, and very importantly, given them original, alternative visions of classic stories, different from the popular culture versions of Disney animation. No other ballet we have created represents this more clearly than our Little Mermaid. Parents and teachers love the celebration of creativity and original thinking, and many use it as a point of departure for encouraging these values in their children and students."

Inland Pacific Ballet brought together a creative dream-team to bring The Little Mermaid to the stage: Portland-based choreographers Daniel Kirk and Eric Skinner utilized innovative aerial technology to create the feeling of a real underwater environment; lighting designed by Nick Robinson in 2019 adds to the illusion, along with internationally-acclaimed scenic designer Nancy Seruto's creative set designs; designers Craig Sheppard and Jeanne Nolden created a spectacular blend of ornate costumes and delightful sea creature puppets, each with their own personality and movement quality. Sea creatures from the original production returning this year are the ever-popular jelly fish, sea horses, shrimp and schools of fish, as well as the popular seagull. New from last season are the electric eels, sea gulls, blowfish and angel fish puppets created by Jesse Mooney-Bullock of MoonBull Studio.

Inland Pacific Ballet Artistic Director Victoria Koenig has conceived a lush, sweeping sound collage of iconic romantic and impressionist composers (Ravel, Debussy, Britten, Vaughan Williams, Janacek, and Dvorak) which feels more like a cinematic soundtrack than a traditional ballet score.

Inland Pacific Ballet is celebrating its 25th Anniversary Season and was founded in 1994 by Southern California natives Victoria Koenig and Kevin Myers, and quickly become one of Southern California's cultural jewels. Its mission is to build and sustain a professional ballet company in the Inland Empire of Southern California, committed to producing exquisitely staged productions of full-length classic story ballets, presenting the best in contemporary choreography, and providing an essential training ground for serious young dancers.

During the past 25 years Koenig and Myers have built Inland Pacific Ballet into the premier ballet company in the region, enjoying critical acclaim while performing the largest and most varied repertoire in the area. The Company's repertoire includes such classics as A Midsummer Night's Dream, Les Sylphides, Graduation Ball and Swan Lake Act II. Full length classical masterpieces include Giselle, Coppélia and a lavish production of The Nutcracker. Contemporary classics include masterpieces by the legendary George Balanchine including Serenade, Concerto Barocco and Who Cares? and a growing body of original work which includes creative adaptations of much-loved stories such as The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Dracula and Beauty and the Beast.

The Little Mermaid has performances on Saturday, April 4 at 11:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., and Sunday, April 5 at 11:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. at Lewis Family Playhouse, Rancho Cucamonga. Tickets are $49/$57; seniors $46; youth $30. For more information and to order tickets, please visit IPBALLET.org.

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