SEQUIM — Oversize butterflies, delicate hummingbirds and the Queen of Everything Good: They’re together for two performances, courtesy of the Sequim Ballet, this Saturday.
The brand-new production is “The Magic Slippers,” choreographed, directed and costumed by Sequim Ballet owner Laurel Herrera, and danced by local performers age 5 to 16. Curtain times are 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. for the 45-minute performance, which tells the story of the Queen, her friends, her family and, naturally, a flock of fairies.
Tickets to “The Magic Slippers” are $10, with all proceeds to go to the nonprofit Olympic Theatre Arts.
This ballet is filled with whimsical characters — such as a fawn named Mr. Skippy — as well as romance and partnering, thanks to the fact that Herrera has a number of boys studying at her ballet school.
Along with Cami Ortloff, 16, as the Queen, the cast includes Eleanor Byrne, 11, and her older brother Liam Byrne, an eighth-grader, and Ryan Andrews, 9.
The boys and girls perform a series of dances to impress the Queen; in response, her majesty bestows several pairs of golden slippers.
Then, at the close of the first act, they receive a golden rope to help them do the last dance — “and it’s magic,” Herrera promised.
In the second act, the fairies morph into two leggy butterflies, a pair of hummingbirds and two wood nymphs, all continuing to dance for the Queen.
In this lead role, Cami “is a fabulous dancer,” said Herrera.
The teenager has been accepted to the Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet in New York City, and her parents, Todd and Kim Ortloff, will be sending her to the academy’s summer intensive this year.
Like several other dancers from Sequim Ballet, Cami appeared in last December’s Northwest Ballet Theatre production of “The Nutcracker” in Port Angeles.
And next year, Herrera added, Sequim Ballet will present its own full production of another classic, “Cinderella.”
For details and to reach Herrera, phone Olympic Theatre Arts at 360-683-7326.
