Our Original Ballets
Each ballet performed by NMBT is a one-of-a-kind creation from the mind of Thomas Morrell. Featuring original choreography, each piece is a lesser known folktale or story set to enchanting music.
The Legend of Knockgrafton
"The Legend of Knockgrafton" is an Irish folk tale published by T. Crofton Croker in Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland (1825). It tells of a humpbacked man named Lusmore who delights the fairies by revising their fairy song and has his hump removed, while a peevish yet handsome Jack Madden angers them and receives a hump instead.
Scenes From a Park
“Ballet-meets-Broadway” in a series of vignettes set to the jazz music of Irving Berlin. Set in a city park of the 1940s, each scene of the ballet spans a year, cycling through the four seasons, and follows the ups and downs of its visitors.
A Midsummer Night’s Faerie Tale
In a forest called the Old Oak Wood, a young faery named Sneezlewort wakes in his nest to the clear music of pipes and the warm smell of the sun. At dusk tonight, the Midsummer Eve festivities will begin — a time of potent magic in the faery realm. But just what will take place remains a mystery, for every year young Sneezle has fallen asleep. Something wonderful will happen, he knows — or perhaps something dreadful and strange, for the faeries have two sides to their natures.
Princess Peony
Princess Peony is based on an old Japanese folktale about Princess Aya whose father has arranged a marriage for her with the son of a neighboring warlord.
Song of Wyoming
Cowboy hats, boots, vests and feathers are a far cry from the tutus and tights of classical ballet performances, but then the Northwest Michigan Ballet Theatre's "Song of Wyoming" isn't a traditional ballet. The ballet follows giddy school girls, rough-and-tumble cowboys and a budding romance, and no western is complete without a bar room brawl!
Whither Thou Goest: The Story of Ruth
Set in the Great Depression era of coal-mining West Virginia, is an epic retelling of the biblical Naomi and Ruth. A tale of devotion and faith, and of friendship and redemption.
Deirdre: A Celtic Tale
Deirdre is the foremost tragic heroine in Irish legend and probably its best-known figure in modern times. As a child, she was beautiful and the druid, Cathbad, made a prophecy. As the infant grew, her beauty would increase until she was the most beautiful woman in all of Ireland. However, the child would, because of her beauty, bring sorrow and war upon the country.
Hansel and Gretel
Hansel and Gretel are a brother and sister abandoned in a forest, where they fall into the hands of a witch who lives in a house made of gingerbread, cake, and pastries.