Cinderella will find her prince again, Ballet Jörgen is coming to Yorkton to bring the classic story to life. Taylor Gill, who is Cinderella, and Kealan McLaughlin, who is Prince Charming, will be here on March 10 to bring the show to life.
Gill is in her sixth season with the company, and says she began dancing because she looked up to her older brother, who was also in dance. After a few years of ballet lessons, she decided this was what she wanted to do with her life, and studied at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and in Miami before eventually joining Ballet Jörgen.
For McLaughlin, now in his fourth season, he feels he had no choice but to become a dancer, because he was dancing before he could walk.
“There’s a famous story that my mother recalls where I would get up every night when they were watching Jeopardy, pull myself up on a table, and dance to [the theme] as a baby. That’s how I got into dance, it was sort of in my DNA.”
Cinderella might be well known, but Gill says that her character is a blank slate and makes it possible to draw from her own life and experience. Since it’s a fairy tale, she focuses on the fun and innocence of the character.
“I basically just remember what I was like when I was twelve and act like that.”
It’s the first time McLaughlin has done a lead role in Ballet Jörgen, and describes it as playing in the major leagues for the first time. He describes it as an honour and a privilege to step into the role.
“It’s an interesting moment when that thing you’ve been dreaming about your whole life comes true, and I’ve been dreaming about it in some way since I was a year old.”
He says part of the challenge is creating a character who doesn’t have much of a back story.
“Because of the quality of the relationship I have with Taylor, I can let myself fall for her very openly on stage. There’s no acting involved. When we have our moments of real connection, I can be really vulnerable with her because I know nothing that I do will be not be well received.”
Cinderella is a family show, and Gill especially is embraced by young audiences, as many young people love Cinderella and she sees that as people meet her. McLaughlin jokes that when dancers go out to sign autographs after the show, they’re going to be ignored if Cinderella is there, because all the kids want to meet her.
“You’ve got me, this big sweaty prince dude that’s six times her size, and nobody wants to hang out with me because I’m kind of scary looking in comparison... She’s much prettier than I am, I don’t take it personally.”
This is the first time that Gill has taken on the title role, but not the first time she has performed the ballet, doing different, smaller roles in the show in her first season with the company. She says that she knew she wanted to be Cinderella from the beginning, but that she also knew she wasn’t ready in her first season, and describes those early roles as stressful at the time.
“It’s cool to see the progress too. Now, if I was to do those roles, it would be a completely different ball game, because I’ve had so much experience since then. It’s really awesome to do what I watched the person doing Cinderella do back then, while I imagined if I could do that. Now I actually get to, so I’m really grateful.”
If a fairy tale is about dreams coming true, Gill says having the lead in a touring performance is a kind of real life fairy tale.
“This is what I’ve dreamed of, to be able to do lead roles like this. And in my fantasy, it was in Canada, so to be able to do this in the country I grew up in is what I dreamed about.”
Both Gill and McLaughlin say that one of the best parts of performing with Ballet Jörgen is the chance to tour across the country. McLaughlin says that the chance to see what Canada has to offer.
“I get to see the beauty of my country every year, and you can’t replicate that.”
Part of the goal of Ballet Jörgen is outreach, and Gill says that part of their mission is to bring ballet to people who wouldn’t see it regularly, so every student has the chance to see ballet. She says having a full performance slate is the best part of being with the company, but she also enjoys the opportunity to reach out to people with outreach programs, and meet people to get them interested in ballet and dance. McLaughlin says it’s rewarding to go to places where people are genuinely happy they came, and see a show they’re not always able to enjoy.
McLaughlin says one of the advantages of Ballet Jörgen for him is that he says he thrives off of being safe, and the company is one he considers a kind of family.
“I feel more at ease here all the time. I grew up as an only child with a single mother, so I didn’t grow up with a lot of family, but in a sense I think this is what a lot of people get when they have a larger family, when there are so many people in the room and they are still comfortable with everybody.”
Ballet Jörgen presents Cinderella as part of the Stars for Saskatchewan series on Tuesday, March 10 at the Anne Portnuff Theatre. Tickets available at the Arts Council, 49 Smith Street at www.ticketpro.ca, and at Welcome Home Crafts.
