February 19, 2003

Morrell builds original ballet

Theater company stages 'Legend of Knockgrafton' this weekend at Milliken

By LISA PERKINS
Herald staff writer

      When Thomas Morrell, artistic director of the Northwest Michigan Ballet Theatre dreams, he dreams big. Morrell who founded the company in 1997, composes original ballets for the company from the bottom up.
      "I start with the story," said Morrell who's most recent production, "The Legend of Knockgrafton" will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday and 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Milliken Auditorium. "I found this particular story in a book of Celtic legends, it really appealed to me."
      "The Legend of Knockgrafton" is an adaptation of an old Irish legend about Lusmore, a poor hunchback who sells fine baskets in the region of Knockgrafton. Because of his grotesque shape, the townspeople are frightened by his appearance and ridicule him. The townspeople drive poor Lusmore away into the forest where he falls asleep only to be awakened by the singing and dancing of faeries. The music is so infectious that he soon finds himself dancing as well. The faeries are so impressed with his dancing that they invite him to join him in their celebration and magically remove his hump and fit him with new garments.
      Eventually the townspeople realize the error of their ways, understanding that beauty and compassion are found in the heart, not outward, physical appearance.
      "Once I decide on the story, I have to find music that will help tell the story. It's a long, long process. I create an original score by searching through hundreds of hours of music or by creating the music myself on an electronic keyboard synthesizer. I'm looking for a particular sound or a certain tempo to set the mood for a specific scene," Morrell said. The score for "Knockgrafton" is a compilation of period music recorded by Ensemble Galilei.
      With the story and score set, Morrell comes up with costume and set ideas in addition to original choreography.
      "It can be overwhelming at times. When I decide on a costume concept I turn that aspect over to a costume coordinator who designs and creates the costumes for the production. Almost everything is made from scratch, including patterns," Morrell said.
      Dancers for the production were selected by open audition with 18 dancers being chosen representing seven local towns and three area ballet schools. They range in age from nine to 19.
      Morrell's purpose in working with young dancers is to offer education, technical training and performance opportunities to talented young dancers and to introduce the community to original ballet productions.
      "We are a small company and still not very well known, mainly because we don't present the more familiar ballets like 'The Nutcracker,' 'Sleeping Beauty' or 'Cinderella.' What we do offer is unique, new and unfamiliar ballets, which for the most part, have never been created by anyone else," Morrell said.
      General admission tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for seniors and children 12 and under and are available at Ballet Etc., Studio 101, Dance Leelanau and the Milliken Auditorium box office. The performance will be repeated at 7:30 p.m., March 1, at the Northport Community Arts Center. For more information, call 929-2787.