Splendid and impeccable as the full moon was Peter Pan, produced by the Mazatlán Municipal Institute of Culture, Tourism and Art, inspired by the playwright by writer and playwright James Matthew Barrie and Performed by students from the CULTURA Municipal School of Classical Ballet and the Mazatlán Ballet Company under the direction of maestra Zoila Fernández Fernández.
The stage of the Ángela Peralta Theater was imbued with magic and dreams through the spectacular set design by Víctor Manuel Carrizalez; lighting by Ángel Salomón González; costumes made in the CULTURA Workshop by Elisa Espinosa and local costume designers; sounds, special effects and music by various authors to give life to the story choreographed by Zoila Fernández, Agustín Martínez and maestros from the Municipal Ballet School of the Instituto de Cultura, Turismo y Arte de Mazatlán.
The show that enhances Spring Season 2023 had the artistic intervention of dancers of all ages who gave themselves body and soul to establish a communion with the families that filled the lunette and the three levels of the maximum cultural venue of Mazatlán.
Since the curtain rose, families were amazed, the different sets and the variety of their components moved the audience.
Mesmerizing mermaids with splendid lights and crowns of starfish and snails, dancing flamingos, a friendly crocodile (Manuel Hernández Suárez); the antics of lost children, Indian dances to the rhythm of the cry “uuuu”, pirates, mythological fairies and protectors and of course Peter Pan (Oscar Treto Hevia) and Tinkerbell (Camila Loaiza Mendoza), capable of flying and dancing through the air thanks to to the magic powders, all made the stage shine.
In this Mazatlan-made Peter Pan, Princess Tigrilla was played by Judy Jolibois Velázquez, who was also La Maid; Gean Lee Panchi Baldeseca personified the intrepid Captain Hook and the Father; Regina Paola Valencia Ayala was little Wendy; Ana Karenina Rodríguez Villarreal played La mamá; Zela Victoria Osuna Phillips as La nana (El perro) and Juan Carlos Santiago García as Mr. Smith.
The public was surprised by the agility of movement, versatility, sense of rhythm, body and facial expression, scenic mastery and the style developed by the dancers who venture into the world of classical dance through the study of Cuban methodology and technique.
Oscar Treto Hevia, a Cuban dancer Graduated from the National Ballet School in Cuba gave life to ‘Peter Pan’. At the end of the show, he highlighted the warmth of the public, in which he observed attendees of all ages, and heard excited cries from children, youth and adults that filled him with satisfaction.
For Oscar Treto, impersonating Peter Pan was quite a challenge because as an adult the most difficult thing was to play a child, but he had to remember the things he did in childhood, those small details that are lost or are not done due to the age.
After playing Captain Hook, Gean Lee Panchi, an Ecuadorian dancer who has been with the Mazatlán Ballet Company for 4 years, shared that Captain Hook is a beloved and not-so-loved villain in world tales because at the same time he is bad for wanting to teach Peter Pan the reality of life, and that you have to grow up.
Children’s audiences are more demanding because you have to show them with movement, with gestures, everything you are interpreting so that they can understand you. If you don’t show them what they are seeing, they won’t understand you, said the classical dancer.
Manuel Ricardo Hernández Suárez, a Colombian dancer who is a member of the Mazatlán Ballet Company, was satisfied because when he interpreted the crocodile “Tick Tock”, the public was moved and his characterization was one of the most fun in this staging.
As an artist it is very important and satisfying that the public leave happy, he shared.
At the end of the work, Anna Karenina Rodríguez Villareal was recognized, who graduated as a Classical Ballet Technician.
The dancer highlighted the good school atmosphere at the Municipal Center for the Arts – her second home – and through a video she shared that her artistic training will help her to continue in pursuit of her dream: to be actress.
“Studying theater and ballet has been a very beautiful journey” was the phrase she chose to describe one of the many moments that she will experience as an artist.
At the end of Peter Pan, the audience took the stage and took pictures with some of the most emblematic characters in this wonderful story presented through the language of classical ballet.
Ricardo Castro, who attended with his family, commented that Peter Pan left a footprint from childhood, and by reliving it through ballet, that child that we all carry inside was reborn, in him.
