One male and one female dancer stand facing each other against a green, woods-like backdrop, one tossing a broom to the other

Hansel and Gretel

Ballet Chicago

With a cast of 90 dancers, Hansel and Gretel is set to Humperdinck’s 1893 opera score, specially adapted by Ballet Chicago for orchestra. The magnificent music themes serve as Ballet Chicago artistic director Daniel Duell’s inspiration for this beloved tale, rendered in three deftly paced scenes featuring the familiar characters, with epic-scale scenes in the forest and the Witch’s house. Hansel and Gretel will enchant audiences of all ages.

Choreography: Daniel Duell
Music: Engelbert Humperdinck, arrangement by Kimberly Schmidt*
Costume Design: Patricia Blair and Susan Eitner
Animal Costumes: Elizabeth Lorena Lopez, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Lighting Design: Margaret L. Nelson
Props: Margaret Nelson, assisted by Mike Diaz, Danny Valente, and Means of Production

Revised and adapted from the 1993 Ballet Chicago Premiere

About Ballet Chicago
Co-founded in 1987 by acclaimed dancer/choreographer Daniel Duell and former ballerina Patricia Blair, Ballet Chicago’s mission is to educate and inspire young artists through the study of classical ballet, and in so doing, to lay a foundation of life skills that empowers each one to realize their full potential. It is a place where the beauty of one’s character is as important as the beauty of one’s tendu, a place where diversity is intentional, where young people learn to celebrate their triumphs and weather their disappointments with equal grace, where high achievement is the norm, and where delivering moments of truth becomes a way of life. With a curriculum based in the Balanchine Technique © and through a special arrangement with the George
Balanchine Trust, Ballet Chicago provides an accelerated performance program where members receive years of on-stage experience, building confidence, camaraderie, community and an array of skill sets that translate to any arena. New works join masterpiece repertoire reserved solely for professionals and only the most accomplished
students worldwide, producing outstanding performance resumés. Ballet Chicago is a home, it is a family; it is a launching pad for exemplary youth.

Cast
Scene 1: The Cottage in the Woods
Hansel: RUSSELL SCHMIDT
Gretel: EMMA WITTIG
Mother: EMMA KAPETYN
Father: PARIS STIGGER
Squirrels: Leighton Baumgartner, Sofia Mae Hunt, Savannah Lee, Gabriel Martinez,
Tate Million, Francesca Pelc, Sofia Strang, Laura Thrush, Corinne Williams

Scene 2: The Forest
Birds: Mia Thompson with Eve Eismann and Greer Den Houter
Deer: Zoey Addison with Ruby Sindelar and Brooklyn Winter
Angelicorns: EMILY FUGETT and NINA MONTALBANO
Wolf: ALEXANDER ALLEN
Bunnies: Idina Arends, Leighton Baumgartner, Simone Bedi, Veda Calhan, Daniela Cloppert Patino, Lyla DiPasquo, Madeleine Grofman, Erika Imashova, Gabriella Joew, Leila Kantner, Mathilda Konrady-Sloan, Mari Million, Grae Navarro, Luciana Domenica Pacilli, Amber Radzevicius, Lilliana Spurgeon, Natalya Szidik
Forest Faeries: Tru Annafi, Eden Casimiro, Daisy Herrera, Lillian Hundley, Alyssa Kantner, Claudia Kantner, Isabelle Markel, Rebecca McCain, Brianna Moose, Lucie Richard, Skylar Rutman, Allison Yusim
Angels: NINA MONTALBANO and ZACHARY GUTHIER
Gabrielle Foley, Morgan Jankowski, Devin Johnson, Anna Tworzyanski
Zoey Addison, Katherine Alvarado, Claire Brocker, Maya Canestaro, Anna Graczyk, Tayte Joiner, Hayley Lampariello. Kyra Lin, Morgan Moose, Dani Streever, Mia Thompson, Brooklyn Winter
Cherubs: Leighton Baumgartner, Sasha Daley, Alaina Fernando, Leila Kantner,
Madeline Morrow, Grae Navarro, Lilly Spurgeon, Clara Stochetti

Scene 3: The Witch’s House
Witch: Katherine Alvarado
Cookies: Eden Casimiro, Alaina Fernando, Daisy Herrera, Madison Hinton, Claudia Kantner, Annabelle Kim, Otto Moose, Phoebe Pearlman, Gabriella Rauch, Alexa Risley, Quinn Rutman, Skylar Rutman, Sophia Smith, Agustina Stocchetti, Caroline Stoughton, Molly Teschner, Nicole Vaneekeren