In a rehearsal filled with laughter, high jumps and dancers of all ages, the Augusta Ballet, formerly known as the Columbia County Ballet, prepares for their 37th annual presentation of “Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
Through C.S. Lewis’s tale of forgiveness, faith and love, the Augusta Ballet invites audiences to come on Saturday, March 25, and bask in a performance like no other told by performers that span from infancy to their late-40s.
“People are always amazed at what these little ones can do,” said co-owner Kathleen Jones. “And every year these kids get to do a new part that they always look forward to doing.”
With over 300 students and a system where parts are divided up by age, there are plenty of roles to go around for the Easter story, and many of these dancers are children from past dancers of the studio.
“It’s a wonderful story that we get to pass on from generation to generation,” she said. “There’s something special about people learning here, and then returning with their own children because they trust us so much.”
After first opening the studio almost four decades ago, Co-owner and Director Ron Jones said he and his wife went into the dance business with a focus on nurturing their students.
“It’s always been in the school,” he said. “They learn responsibility, and they learn to organize their time … and ballet always teaches discipline — it’s not an easy thing to do. They learn teamwork too, because my wife and I have always said, ‘We don’t do divas.’”
After retiring from teaching for some years, Ron Jones is dusting off his directing skills, and refocusing on the details of the plot.
“I think what sets it apart for me is that I’m more involved again,” he said. “I’ve come back into rehearsals … and I’ve been able to reconnect some of the parts that make it more true to the actual telling of the story.”
With dancers starting out as cherubs when they are young and progressing as they age to roles such as fireflies, angels and fairies, Ron Jones believes it allows for performers to stay engaged in the story while also attempting to achieve higher roles by improving at dance.
“This is a story of redemption — a story of salvation,” he said. “It’s a goal-setting thing for children; this is very child-friendly, because it involves children of all ages, and it just seems like such an appropriate spirit within the tale for them to be nurtured in.”
Social Media Manager and former company dancer Julianne Norkus said she has been involved with the ballet school since she was 4 years old.
“I think Narnia was one of the first stories I ever knew, so it’s very special and incredibly nostalgic,” she said. “It kind of feels like going home every year … it’s a really good, spiritually nutritious place to be. It feels very safe.”
For her, Norkus said the story of Narnia differs from any other ballets she has performed in the past, because of its deep connection to her own religious beliefs.
“It feels like the rest of the year, you’re kind of wandering and exploring, and then later you get to go home to Narnia,” she said. “Just watching all these new girls explore something I got to do for so long … being excited for them as they get these lead roles. In fact, the girl who is playing the White Witch was the first dancer I ever used in a social media promotion when she played Lucy.”
To Molly Drake, lead actress and local high school senior, dancing with the company has been an outlet for her since she was 2 years old.
“Dance has always been a sort of escape. When you come to the studio nothing outside matters. I’m dancing, having fun, focusing on me and getting better at ballet,” she said. “I always feel that way when I’m here, so anything in the outside world just kind of disappears.”
Despite being with the company for 15 years and annually performing Narnia, Drake said she, and many others with the company, still look forward to the show every single year.
“I’ve been lots of different parts, and I’ve even done the same parts over again, but I feel like every time you always find new things to learn, you always find things to enjoy again,” she said. “You are also dancing with new people too, so it’s a whole different set up.”
Drake fondly remembers performing one of her favorites pieces as Lucy Pevensie a few years back.
“[The scene] is her crying about Aslan and his death, and her sister is trying to comfort her,” she said. “It’s a very honest, real and emotional part … if you’re in a really difficult situation, and you find yourself out of it – that’s what the scene kind of represents.”
Around the time she played Lucy, Drake explained how cathartic it was to be able to express inner anger and sadness with a role, and pretending to be someone else entirely; she felt being Lucy allowed her to sit and process her own emotions – without the pressure of others questioning why she was easily feeling sad.
“When I was Lucy, my parents were actually getting divorced, and I just really connected with her feelings. It came really easy to me to act sad, and I was dealing with the same feelings of not knowing what was going to happen,” she said. “That’s where Lucy is in that scene … she didn’t have anyone to protect her, and she feels like her whole world has fallen down. That’s kind of how I felt too.”
Acting as this year’s antagonist, the White Witch, for the first time, Drake shared her primary struggles with absorbing the character’s mindset and demeanor.
“This role was definitely way more of a learning curve for me,” she said. “She’s this evil, crazy character, so it was definitely more difficult to create that personality.”
In addition to learning new roles, Drake said her favorite part about being involved with the show was having the opportunity to teach younger classes their own roles.
“There’s this idea there that everyone has a part in what’s going on in the bigger message,” she said. “And sometimes the little kids are the best part of the show.”
Gabriel Hughes, 23-year-old grandson of Kathleen and Ron Jones who will be playing Aslan, said he appreciates the studio’s equal focus in investing both male and female dancers into the performance.
“I love the good energy and the camaraderie that [the studio] has always had. It’s pretty unusual to have this many guys in a ballet studio,” he said. “It’s important to show that masculine guys can be involved in the arts … I used to be picked on in middle school.”
Hughes said he attributes his love of the arts, dance especially, and his open-mindedness to his grandfather; like many students in the studio, without Ron and Kathleen Jones and ballet, Hughes believes he would not be the person he is today.
“I got my Georgia boy side where I hangout with all my friends, and I also really appreciate the arts,” he said.
“I’m playing Aslan which portrays something really meaningful,” he said. “I started playing Aslan as Jesus when I was 15 … but it has more weight to it now, because I have a better understanding of the world.”
While he hopes audience members take away that the performance of Narnia is really the story of Jesus’ love, sacrifice and forgiveness, he also hopes parents will be touched and have further appreciation for their children’s ballet school.
“It’s a story of forgiveness and walking in the ways of mercy,” he said. “We always have really fantastic people that do it, and it’s just a really heavy, in your face, performance.”
With a performance built around teamwork, perseverance, inclusion and discipline, Ron and Kathleen Jones said they hope audiences leave with a sense of inspiration – whether that be spiritually because of the plot’s meaning, or through witnessing how children, teens and parents have come together to put on a magnificent show unlike any other.
“When you work with young people and you see how they’re dealing with things that happen in their life, you see they’re taking these bad things and turning them into something beautiful,” Ron Jones said with teary eyes. “We knew from the start that this would be a vehicle to do that, and when they’re performing … it’s a refuge [from life].”
Two shows will be offered by the Augusta Ballet on March 25 at 1 and 5 p.m. at the Columbia County Performing Arts Center – located at 1000 Market St. in Evans, Ga.
To purchase tickets, go to: https://www.thecenterofcc.com/events-tickets/
