By Chip Chandler — Digital Content Producer
Lone Star Ballet's new look back on Texas history has become something of a race against time.
Artistic director Vicki McLean lost about a week of rehearsal time after a freak slip last month in the dance studio, but Lone Star Legends and Love Stories is still set to go on stage for performances at 8 p.m. Feb. 9 and 10 in the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts, 500 S. Buchanan St.
"I did one step, and the next thing I knew, I was on the floor," McLean said.
She fractured her femer where it meets her artificial hip, the result of a surgery a couple of years ago. After a week in the hospital and home, McLean returned to the studio to continue putting the final touches on the new original ballet — not exactly doctor's orders.
"I've got a week's worth to finish this weekend so we can go to the theater on Monday," McLean said Jan. 31. "But (the dancers) are really stepping up to it."
The production, written by King Hill, will rework some material previously used in 2011's Lone Star Trilogy, which focused on the stories of Cynthia Ann Parker and Peta Nocona, Col. Charles and Molly Goodnight and Frenchy and Mickey McCormick.
For Love Stories, the tales of Susanna and Almaron Dickinson and Emily West and Santa Anna will be added. Susanna Dickinson was one of the sole survivors of the Alamo, and West was an mixed-race indentured servant who allegedly had a relationship with Mexican leader Santa Anna and inspired the song "The Yellow Rose of Texas."
The dancers portraying each couple are spotlighted on stage as a narrator fills in their backstory, then the cast tells the rest of the story through dance, utilizing music like "Green Leaves of Summer," an Irish jig, "Buffalo Gals" and orchestral works with an Aaron Copland flair.
Kwahadi Dancers also will take part, specifically during the Goodnight section.
"I hope that people enjoy it because it is very historical," McLean said. "(They're) not just dancing a part, (they're) dancing a person, and they've done very well grasping the personalities and emotions of these figures."
The show will be repurposed in future years to serve as an educational piece, McLean said.
Tickets are $10 to $40, plus fees.
Call 806-372-2463.
Chip Chandler is a digital content producer for Panhandle PBS. He can be contacted at Chip.Chandler@actx.edu, at @chipchandler1 on Twitter and on Facebook.
