"Peter and the Wolf" a Spectacular Ballet Performance at the Santa Fe Fine Arts Hall

June 2, 2016

The Santa Fe College student troupe, Dance Theatre of Santa Fe (DTSF), will present a full-length ballet theatre production of "Peter and the Wolf" at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 24-25, 2016, with a matinee at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 25, in the Fine Arts Hall at the Northwest Campus, 3000 NW 83 Street, Gainesville.

Tickets are $15 main floor and $12 balcony for adults; $9 for seniors, children and University of Florida students; and free for Santa Fe College faculty, staff and students with college identification cards. For ticket information, call the Box Office at 352-395-4181 or visit the Fine Arts ticket website at:

https://www.sfcollege.edu/finearts

"Peter and the Wolf" is a symphony with narration that was designed to introduce children to the instruments used in orchestral music. Each character in the story is represented by a different instrument and musical theme. Members of the Gainesville Orchestra will demonstrate the instruments and play the themes. In the lobby after the performances, there will be an opportunity to meet the characters in the ballet and for children to do coloring and activity pages.

With a commission from the Central Children's Theatre in Moscow in 1936, the Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev wrote the narration and music for "Peter and the Wolf" in only two weeks. Although originally written for young people, "Peter and the Wolf" has since become a favorite with audiences of all ages.

Alora Haynes, chairperson of the Fine Arts Department, choreographed and will direct "Peter and the Wolf" for DTSF. The cast of Fine Arts scholarship students will perform to a 1978 recording of Prokofiev's music by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy, with narration by David Bowie. Bowie described his work on the recording as a Christmas present for his son, Duncan Jones, who was then seven years old.

"The performance is an homage to David Bowie, as brilliant an actor and entertainer as he was a musician and visionary," Haynes explained.

At least one music reviewer has viewed "Peter and the Wolf" as an allegory for the political situation in the Soviet Union in the 1930s, with the characters representing either the bickering Soviet republics or the nations of Europe. Peter-who carries the same name as the Russian national hero Peter the Great-represents Russia while the Wolf represents anti-Communist Nazi Germany.

Tim Digert, who works on theatre projects throughout the Southeast, is designing the sets that are being built by Owen Reynolds and the SF theatre students. Zackery Ryan, a graduate of SF, is designing the costumes.

"Peter and the Wolf" is sponsored in part by the SF College Fine Arts Department and the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture and Visit Gainesville, a Tourist Development Tax Grant from the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners in conjunction with the Alachua County Tourist Development Council.

For more information, call SF College Fine Arts Department Chairperson Alora Haynes at 352-395-5296.