"What is REAL?" asked the rabbit one day. It's a small but sweet question meant for children whose imagination breathes emotion into their toys. It's a question asked by those who find great delight in believing stuffed animals sense and struggle with the feelings that make us real.
This week, those of young and old can come together and relive that childhood belief with ODC/San Francisco's performance of The Velveteen Rabbit. It's the stirring story parents and children have drifted slowly off to slumber by since 1922, reminding us what is real and what it means to be real through a brilliant dance creation. The performance will be for one afternoon only at 2 p.m. Sunday at Eisenhower Auditorium.
Setting the scene with colorful costumes and dazzling sets by the award winning children's book illustrator, Brian Wildsmith, viewers will share in Margery Williams' eloquent narrative brought to life by Geoff Hoyle, one of San Francisco's superlative comic actors. Imagine, "There once was a velveteen rabbit, and in the beginning he was really splendid. He was fat and bunchy as a rabbit should be."
Animated as a full-length mainstage ballet with music from Benjamin Britten and additional composition and songs by Bob Franke, the story takes on a new dimension entirely. As never before seen, ODC/San Francisco takes the beloved tale of a stuffed bunny and combines it with the reality of stage and ballet.
"I think it is interesting in that it is a mixture of story telling with dance," said Peter Wray, press and public relations director for the CPA. "It's a classic fairy tale ... very colorful, very dynamic, and the costumes are really fun and fantastical."
KT Nelson, co-artistic director of ODC/San Francisco and choreographer of The Velveteen Rabbit, has made children and art a large part of her life.
In addition to mothering a 16-year-old, she has also started her own children's dance group, the ODC Dance Jam. The Velveteen Rabbit emerged from her own experience as a mother.
It is a show both parents and children can appreciate. Being one of the premier dance companies in the country, ODC/San Francisco focuses most of its attention on modern dance. They performed yesterday at the auditorium with the award winning arrangement Investigating Grace.
"That is a highly acclaimed piece of dance in the dance world and in our country," said Wray, "So for them to then take a classic tale like this and apply that kind of technique, it is a fuller richer experience. It's not just a children's tale being told. It's blending those two genres together in an exciting form."
And it's involving the community. Last Saturday at Schlow Memorial Library, 100 E. Beaver Ave., the Education Office for the CPA organized a reading of The Velveteen Rabbit for area children.
Ten local children will be participating in the performance Sunday afternoon. Also, activities will be held one hour prior to the show including face painting and crafts.
For cast and crew, The Velveteen Rabbit has been a colossal success, performing for over 200,000 people nationwide.
ODC/San Francisco has successfully found an audience looking to reminisce a part of their childhood with the adult world of modern dance.
