Event

The Magic Toy Shop 2019

The ballet La Boutique Fantasque, with music by Ottorino Resphighi, was first performed by Sergei Diaghilevs Ballets Russes at the Alhambra Theatre in London on June 5, 1919. The original leading roles of the Can-Can Dolls and the Shopkeeper were danced by Lydia Lopokova, Enrico Cecchetti and Leonide Massine. This production (which is an adaptation of the original libretto by Leonide Massine) is choreographed by Patty O'Reilly of Sonoma Conservatory of Dance and Brooke Byrne of Geary Dance Center in San Francisco and features the music of Resphigi's La Boutique Fantasque supplemented with Josef Bayer's The Fairy Doll.

Combining traditional character dance and classical ballet, The Magic Toy Shop is the enchanting tale of a Shopkeeper's beloved toys who come to life and happily perform for prospective customers, until the day when two spoiled girls enter the store and decide to purchase and separate the pair of Can-Can Dolls. The night before the families are to return for their selections, the toys share an evening of farewell performances before the Cossack Doll declares they should rebel and fight to keep the Can-Can Dolls from such a wretched fate. The next day, when the families return for their dolls, the toys do indeed rebel, causing the Shopkeeper to refuse to sell her precious toys to the girls, who leave in a huff from the magical shop while the Shopkeeper and her toys celebrate.