STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK
PHOTOS BY AUBREY STEPHENS AND MANON GAUDREAU
“The Message of the Rose” is a beautiful call to peace.
But it has lain dormant since 2000 when Footlight Dance Centre’s Hilarie Neely penned it and produced it.
She has brought it out again this year to be staged Friday through Sunday at Wood River High School Performing Arts Theater.
Dancers will present it at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 11-12, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 13, at the theater at Hailey’s Community Campus.
“I’m always examining what has relevance to our world. And I decided it was time to bring back this message, given the time of turmoil we find ourselves in.” said Neely. “The voice of the arts is important for all of us, and especially the dancers as it gives them a way to speak about their humanity.”
“The Message of the Rose,” was inspired by Richard Strauss’ “Rosenkavalier Suite” from his comic opera “Rosenkavalier,” which premiered to rave reviews in 1911.
Neely’s version begins with Mother Earth waiting to see if the time has come for a rose bush under the tree of life to offer a single bloom to restore balance to the Earth.
The story shows attempts to stop the blooming of the rose through fires, earthquakes, floods, volcanoes and human strife.
The test is for wisdom and patience to endure experiences of the world, including natural and human strife, until the rose blooms and peace and love prevail on Earth.
Finally, the audience is taken back to the rose bush where the thorns fall away and the rose is handed back to Mother Earth, complete with the graces of wonder, the stars, the devotion of dawn, compassion as felt through sunbeams and love as expressed through the sunset bringing balance to the world.
“The infectious waltzes and rhapsodic love music in Strauss’s own words leave listeners with ‘one eye wet, the other dry,’ ” said Neely. “I always wanted to do this again but I didn’t have the right cast, nor was it the right message at the right time.”
The production will feature 190 dancers. Graduating seniors Dylan Porth will portray Mother Earth and Anika Lyon, Wisdom. Other leads include the Graces made up of Isabella Cronin, Abbie Heaphy, Emelia Morgan and Laine Whittier.
Leah Taylor, who was the lead when Footlight Dance presented “The Message of the Rose” in 2000, is now a teacher with Footlight Dance. She helped choreograph this version, along with Christina Arpp, Julie Fox, Melodie Taylor-Maulding, Michele Minailo, Hilarie Neely, Jen Simpson, Leah Taylor, Anne Winton and guest choreographer Yurek Hansen.
Neely restaged the original choreography by heself, Shellrae Garnes and Mitra Boloix.
Tickets are $7, available at Iconoclast Books in Hailey, Footlight Dance at the Community Campus and at the door.
For information, call 208-578-5462 or visit www.footlightdancecentre.com.