Free Ballet in the Park shows this week will include menagerie of dancing animals
.jpeg "Ballet in the Park will travel all over the Wichita area this week.")
Ballet Wichita is bringing back its Ballet in the Park series this week, and it will take its “Carnival of the Animals” to parks all over the area starting on Wednesday.
The event will feature 25 dancers, ranging in age from 14 to 35, who will dress in colorful costumes and embody animals like lions, elephants, butterflies and swans as part of a free, 30-minute performance.
The first show is at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Naftzger Park, 601 E. Douglas in Wichita. The group will perform at 7 p.m. Thursday at Mulvane’s Main Street Park; at 7 p.m. Friday at Newton’s Athletic Park; at 10 a.m. Saturday at Andover’s Capitol Federal Amphitheater; at 7 p.m. Saturday at El Dorado’s Forest Park; and then at 2 p.m. Sunday at Winfield’s Island Park.
Taylor Cunningham-Osterman, Ballet Wichita’s guest choreographer and director, put the show together with COVID-19 safety in mind, using a smaller than normal cast performing a shorter than normal show.
The performers, who will dance to the music of Camille Saint-Saens, will be dressed as the animals and mimic their movements during the show, Cunningham-Osterman said. Audience members are encouraged to wear their favorite animal costumes, too.
“I do know that Wichita is itching for free activities to do outside,” he said. “And it will be so nice for us to be on stage again.”
People are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets for seating
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