Ballet Austin is a world class classical ballet company located in Austin, Texas. Drawing inspiration from the visual illustrations of the ‘Tales of the Brothers Grimm’ Austin native and world-renowned artist Natalie Frank, Artistic Director Stephen Mills explored the classic stories in an exciting world premiere ballet entitled Grim Tales.
Through a collaborative storyboarding process, artist Natalie Frank, set designer George Tsypin, resident lighting designer Tony Tucci and the Lightswitch media design team lead by Partner Howard Werner created dramatic worlds for the production. In a classical dance setting, the team turned Natalie’s graphic, vivid, one dimensional art into living, breathing environments in which the tales of The Frog Prince, Sleeping Beauty and The Juniper Tree where told through dance, light and projection. Natalie’s illustrated text ‘Tales of the Brothers Grimm’ provided the inspiration for the ballet, and her art was the starting point for our team. Being very careful to be true to the essence of Natalie’s work and with her guidance and approval, we then created further visual design and animations that developed and expanded the story line for the ballet.
Working in an art form that Natalie was not fluent in we rapidly demonstrated to Natalie as creative artists ourselves, we grasped the essence and importance of her work, the trust she placed in us, and our responsibility to honor her art. This provided comfort and confidence, and an fostered an open and collaborative creative environment – the results speak for themselves in this critically acclaimed new work. Through attention to detail and poignant expression of Natalie illustrations, Lightswitch helped bring familiar stories and characters to life through vibrant animation and visuals, that supported the stunning choreography. We think theater critic Michael Barnes from Austin 360 said it best in his review – ‘It is almost impossible to register in mere words the force and originality of this reimagining of three Grimm fairytales.’
