Midsummer Night's Dream - A Playful Comedy Ballet for Children
- theadventuresofaro
- Jun 13, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 21, 2023
Midsummer Night's Dream is usually best known by audiences as the Shakespearean comedy full of fun plot twists and characters, faeries, donkey's, weddings and lovers getting lost in the magical woods. But what many don't know is that it is also a quite well known ballet with two very well known versions created in the 1960's by the famous ballet choreographers George Balanchine and Sir Frederick Ashton and with music by Felix Mendelssohn. Both versions stick very close to the original plot and even simplify a few of the five subplots from the original play.
That being said, the story that remains is as follows; the King and Queen of the faeries are having a row over who gets to keep the new changeling that Queen Titania has absconded with. King Oberon orders his mischievous ne'er do well fairy Puck to put a love potion on Queen Titania in the hopes of distracting her while he takes the changeling. It works quite well for King Oberon but not for the actors from Athens who happened to be wandering through the woods at the time. One of them becomes Titania's new love interest but not before Puck turns his head into a donkey's (which of course scares off all his friends.) And what is a good story without a love triangle? Well simply put, four lovers from Athens also happen to be walking through the woods while all of this is going on though they cannot actually see the faeries, and Puck also puts a love potion on them (just for kicks) making things all the more confusing and difficult. For full details (and a short read) on the goings on, here is a good explanation.
Thankfully the ballet plot simplifies the Shakespearean story so that children and adults can both follow and enjoy this fun, and comedic story. And Ashton's version of the ballet is even simpler and shorter than Balanchine's at only one hour of length. Titled "The Dream" it was my introduction to this ballet and still remains my favorite iteration of it. It is available for viewing here on YouTube and stars some of our former favorite ballet stars including Alessandra Ferri featured here in a music video with Sting and Ethan Stiefel of the bad boy reputation from Center Stage featured here. But not to worry, "The Dream" and other iterations of the ballet Midsummer Night's Dream still remain in the realm of classical ballet theatre performance, at least for now.
Midsummer has always been a fun celebration of the start of summer (not to be confused with the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year which typically falls a few days before) and is celebrated by dancing and general merrymaking, including bonfires, well into the night. It is typically a pagan celebration though really anyone is welcome to partake. And the ballet really taps into the general themes of joy and a bit of mischief, especially conducted by the faeries who are still strongly believed in by many pagans today.
If your child is too young (or just not interested in sitting still for that long) for the full ballet, there are other ways to introduce them to this delightful story. James Mayhew, British and LGTBQ+ author and illustrator has created a beautiful series of children's books featuring its well known ballets. Including this enchanting one pictured above that takes us through A Midsummer Night's Dream through the eyes of a young ballerina who gets magically transported to the realm of the faeries and gets to meet all of the characters. This endearing and absolutely beautiful children's book is available along with the rest of the series here on Amazon.
In the end of the story all good comes to everyone in the forest on this Midsummer's Eve as Puck (one of ballet's few gender neutral characters I should also note) returns all the characters, including poor Bottom and Titania back to their normal selves and sends them on their way back to their normal lives. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind it if we got another glimpse into the goings on of the lives of those who live in this exciting, interesting and fun faery world. After all, what fun is normal on a Midsummer's Eve?
References and Further Reading:
More about the Ballet:
George Balanchine's Version: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Midsummer_Night%27s_Dream_(ballet)
Frederick Ashton's Version: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dream_(ballet)#
Composer, Felix Mendelssohn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Midsummer_Night%27s_Dream_(Mendelssohn)
More to watch, listen to and read:
A MidSummer's Night's Eve (Shakespeare's Original Story): https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/shakespeares-plays/midsummer-nights-dream/#:~:text=Four%20Athenians%20run%20away%20to,two%20couples%20reconcile%20and%20marry.
The Dream (in full): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3APvyV9q2Q
A Midsummer Night's Dream (in full): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrfiusNHCls
Ella Bella Ballerina and A Midsummer Night's Dream, children's book by James Mayhew: https://www.amazon.com/Bella-Ballerina-Midsummer-Nights-Dream/dp/0764167979/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Comments