One of the region's most unique artistic companies, the Children's Ballet of San Antonio, takes to the Majestic Theater tomorrow and Saturday night with their unique rendition of the classic ballet Don Quixote, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
When founder and artistic director Vanessa Bessler, who is the former Principal Dancer of the National Ballet of Panama, says 'Children's Ballet,' she means children. Some of the dancers are as young as three years old.
And she says this isn't like going to your child's middle school to see them stumble through a rendition of 'Our Town,' this is a professional company, which features some very talented young dancers.
"We are a professional level production, with professional level lighting and presentation, but featuring children all the way to the age of three," she said.
Bessler says the Children's Ballet of San Antonio features young people from two dozen high schools and dance studios across the city, all of whom won their positions with the company through auditions.
And she says many of her dancers are becoming nationally known.
"Some of our dancers have becoming the first dancers from San Antonio to win awards at the Grand Prix level at regional level in Chicago," she said, adding that one of her dancers has even been named to a competition which is considered the 'Olympics' of ballet.
She says young people are realizing that, in addition to being creatively challenging, ballet is among the most physically demanding of the arts, and it is good way for them to realize their passion for physical fitness.
"The dance disciplines are very athletic all of them," she said. "Especially the ballet dancers are extremely athletic. So this allows them to go through very demanding workouts and become exceedingly healthy."
It's a unique presentation of the classic Cervantes story that the Children's Ballet of San Antonio will bring to the stage of the Majestic.
Rather than journeying to La Mancha, Quixote and Sancho travel through South Texas on their way to San Antonio, and meet many locally recogizeable characters along the way.