Festival Dance & Performing Arts Presents Beauty & the Beast

Ballet Fantastique, led by mother & daughter team, Donna and Hannah Bontrager, is a powerhouse for inventive dance theater in the Northwest. Established in 2000 and located in Eugene OR, Ballet Fantastique re-imagines the future of dance—steeped in classical expertise but determined to build new ballet audiences through contemporary ballet premieres. Traveling for the first time to the Palouse with full stage production, impeccable costuming, and quality of dance that promises to mesmerize attendees. Though a “Tale as old as time,” The Bontrager’s have chosen to portray the tale through folk lens: Sergey Aksakov’s 1858 version, The Scarlet Flower, challenging traditional representations of women in fairy tales: In the story, a brave young woman must journey a long way and endure terrible danger. In the end, it is the heroine’s own bravery, moral judgment, empathetic decisiveness, and fortitude that saves both Beauty and the Beast.