Ballet Theatre of Toledo premieres 'Meema the Lemur,' 'Pinocchio' at Field of Dreams Drive-In

May 14—The Ballet Theatre of Toledo had remained optimistic all the way through dress rehearsal. But with concerns over a then-nascent virus building as quickly as they were in mid-March, 2020, Artistic Director Nigel Burgoine finally had to call his dancers together for an announcement.

Their show could simply not go on.

"I didn't break down right then and there," recalled Molly Boros, who for months had been rehearsing the titular role in Meema the Lemur Becomes a Ballerina. Then a high school sophomore, Boros did her best to put on a brave face for the younger dancers who she knew were looking up to her as they all took in the unwelcome news.

"But there is a dance that I do, it's a pretty sad dance, I'm upset that I'm not able to perform," she said, channeling Meema. "When I danced that in rehearsal, I felt a lot of emotion in that."

IF YOU GO

What: Ballet Theatre of Toledo presents 'Meema the Lemur Becomes a Ballerina' and 'Pinocchio'

When: 9 p.m. Saturday

Where: Field of Dreams Drive-In, V602 Township Road 6, Liberty Center, Ohio

Admission: $50 through fieldofdreamsdrivein.com

Ballet aficionados can count on emotion of a different sort at this year's rescheduled premiere of Meema the Lemur Becomes a Ballerina on Saturday, with Boros, 17, finally stepping into the spotlight as the big-dreaming lemur created by Burgoine. Ballet Theatre of Toledo hosts a coronavirus-friendly screening of the filmed performance at 9 p.m. at the Field of Dreams Drive-In in Liberty Center, paired double-feature-style with Pinocchio, a second original performance the company began rehearsing just this year.

Are they excited to finally put their work before an audience?

"Over the moon," Burgoine said.

A drive-in might be a nontraditional stage for ballet dancers, but it's one that worked well for Ballet Theatre of Toledo in November, when they similarly arranged to share their version of The Nutcracker, titled Clara's Dream, there in the same pre-recorded format. In the case of the upcoming double feature, the dancers, who have been rehearsing and re-rehearsing each production since January, performed in front of cameras in late April and early May.

The experience requires something of a shift in mindset, according to Boros, who is also dancing the role of the villainous fox in Pinocchio.

"It's very strange," she said. "But I have learned that, without doing it in front of an audience, you really have to learn to perform for yourself, rather than for other people."

For Evan Zorovich-Long, who stars as the puppet-turned-real-boy in Pinocchio, it's even welcome in a way. Zorovich-Long also dances as himself, a company dancer, in Meema.

"It's a lot less nerve-wracking, actually," Zorovich-Long, 17, observed. "If you mess up, you can restart. ... it's not like live, where it's one and down and that's it."

Both Meema and Pinocchio are choreographed by Burgoine and scored by David Jex, a composer on faculty at the University of Toledo. They are their third and fourth collaborations, following The Great Pancake Escape in 2016 and The Ugly Duckling in 2019.

Ann Hartmann sponsored both productions.

Pinocchio is a visual version of the familiar puppet's tale, complete with a nose that the young star counts among the most distinctive elements of the role: "Dancing with a nose on is kind of fun," Zorovich-Long said, describing the way his costume uniquely makes use of a face mask. "I've never had to wear something like a mask."

Keep an eye out for an enormous volunteer-created whale in Pinocchio, too, among other creative inventions in costume and set.

Meema tells a tale that's likely less familiar to audiences, but it's one that's particularly special to the Ballet Theatre of Toledo. A distinctly hometown production, it's based on a children's book of the same name written by Burgoine and illustrated by the Ballet Theatre of Toledo's Jacqueline Weaner. Inspired by a trip to the Toledo Zoo, where Burgoine accompanied his dancers for a performance for Music Under the Stars, the book introduces the titular lemur and her dreams of dancing like the ballerinas she watches onstage at her zoo.

"Since Meema was a production that my director basically pulled out of thin air, I felt like I was really able to embody Meema and become her and make it my own" Boros said of her never-before-interpreted role. "It was fantastic to be able to start a show and at the very beginning and finish it all the way through."

For the author-choreographer-director, Meema wasn't the only notable event put off by the pandemic more than a year ago: Burgoine was last year named a recipient of the Governor's Awards for the Arts in Ohio, honored specifically in the area of arts education, and had been set to be recognized at a luncheon last March.

He and the other recipients were finally honored at a virtual event on Monday.

More than a year after they had expected to share the first of their two productions with audiences, Burgoine and the company are looking forward to that opportunity at the drive-in on Saturday. In an unusual pre-recorded format fit for an unusual year, some are looking forward to being in that audience themselves — a rare treat for a performer, as Boros pointed out.

"We're all very excited to see each other's parts," she said.