Julia Ponomareva will lead the Dance Alive National Ballet production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Savannah Center.
The music for the ballet is based on the works of Felix Mendelssohn. Kim Tuttle, director of the Gainesville-based dance company, choreographed the ballet. Ponomareva, prinicipal ballerina for Dance Alive, plays the role of Titania, queen of the fairies. She relishes the opportunity.
“Shakespeare’s stories are timeless because of their themes and emotions,” said Ponomareva, a graduate of Rudolf Nureyev Academy in her native Russia. “Every time we as dancers, learn a new role, we put a little bit of ourselves into the character, which adds a new, current layer to the story.”
In Dance Alive, she often performs with her husband, Alexsey Kuznetsov, and he will be dancing on Tuesday. They have a way of combining dance and life.
“It means love, support, understanding and we are the best partners for each other in ballet world and in real life as well,” Ponomareva said.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” is one of Shakespeare’s best loved comedies. It’s filled with fairies, mysterious forests, tangled romantic webs and devious magical spells weaved by a character called Puck.
Ponomareva thoroughly enjoys the production and says she wants, “to bring an audience into a fairy world. I want to give them fun, joy, love along with amazing atmosphere of ballet art.”