Metropolitan Classical Ballet New & Reviews

Reviving hoedown ballet
Friday, August 27, 2004

By MARGARET PUTNAM / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

FORT WORTH - From Rodeo to Tales of Texas, choreographers can't resist the temptation to do a cowboy ballet. Neither can Paul Mejia, co-artistic director of Metropolitan Classical Ballet (formerly Ballet Arlington). Next week, Cowgirls Live Forever , a revamping of his deliciously lively All the Right Women, hits the stage at Bass Performance Hall.

Originally staged in 1994 featuring the Dixie Chicks, this version promises to be as much fun as that one.

The Dixie Chicks, now too famous and out of reach, won't appear. In their stead is 18-year-old singer Elizabeth Blum, backed up by the Johnnie High Band.

In the studio Monday afternoon, rehearsal got under way, the first time dancers, singer and band had been together. As the musicians and Mr. Mejia worked out the tempo, the women marked out the steps, their white hats giving them a jaunty look.

On the side, men practiced leaps and spins, pausing to toss black hats overhead. After the first run-through, the dancers performed full out, at reckless speed. For the finale, "Cry," Mr. Mejia gently guided Ms. Blum from one side of the studio to the other, so she could join the dancers without being in their way.

There was much applause at the end, and Ms. Blum cried out, "You are so awesome!" It was her first chance to see the ballet, and she was delighted.

This particular connection between ballet and hoedown began 11 years ago, when the Dixie Chicks and Fort Worth Dallas Ballet performed separately at the Spring Creek Festival in Garland. "We were doing Who Cares?, and I thought the Dixie Chicks were very charming," says Mr. Mejia, then artistic director of that company. They agreed to join forces. The result was All the Right Women, which the dancers and the Dixie Chicks presented the next year at the Spring Creek Festival. Later, with a corps of 31, the show played the Tarrant County Convention Center.

Most of the songs from the original remain: "Lone Star Swing," "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart," "Cowboys Live Forever," "Roanoke" and "Planet of Love." The only change is that "Cry" replaces "Love Police."

E-mail msputnam@comcast.net

Metropolitan Classical Ballet performs Casanova Fantasy, Pas de Quatre and Cowgirls Live Forever Sep. 4 at 8 p.m. at Bass Performance Hall, Fourth and Commerce, Fort Worth. Tickets $10 to $30. Call 817-212-4280 or 1-877-212-4280, or go to www.basshall.com.