By Shannon Hicks

The November production by Marsha Ismailoff Mark School of Ballet will be a French ballet called La Fille Mal Gardee. In English the title translates into “The Unchaperoned Daughter.” The ballet tells the story of a young girl, Lisette, and her mother, Madame Simone, a widow and the owner of a prosperous farm. Lisette is in love with a young farmer named Colin, but Madame Simone has other wishes and plans for her beautiful young daughter.

This fall the Newtown-based ballet company will present its annual production, complete with dancers of all ages and at different levels of their careers. The lead roles in La Fille Mal Gardee (“la fillet mal gar-dee”) will be performed by two soloists from Moscow’s Stanislovsky Ballet Co., Natalia Krapavina and Georgy Smilevski, while the remaining roles will be performed by dancers of Marsha Ismailoff Mark’s school and dancers from across the state who will be selected through an open audition.

Aside from an annual major production in November or early December (the school has traditionally presented performances of Nutcracker Ballet, although in 1998 the company presented a landmark production of Coppelia), Mrs Mark’s ballet company is also well-known for its summer presentation called “Ballet in the Meadow,” also a yearly event.

Between the fall and winter projects, and master classes with a guest teacher from Moscow, however, what keeps the ballet company busy? The company’s work at this time of the year can be neatly summed up in two words: planning and fund-raising.

“The choreography, costumes, sets and lighting all need to be planned,” Mrs Mark said recently. The school’s namesake was conducting a breakfast meeting with guest master teacher Shamil Yagudin and Ballet Miniature fundraising chairman Melissa Saint. The three were discussing this year’s plans for the school, and also getting ready for a day-trip to Waterbury. The ballet school has been working closely with St Margaret-McTernan School on a program concerning ballet.

Mr Yagudin, the ballet master of the Bolshoi Ballet Company and a graduate of the Moscow Choreographic Institute (The Bolshoi Ballet School), visited the Waterbury school with Mrs Mark last month to present lectures on both Russian history and his own career. A three-hour master class followed a few days later, and a mini performance by dancers from MIM School of Ballet will be presented at St Margaret-McTernan’s in the fall. For the past eight years he has been a guest master teacher in Newtown for both the summer intensive program and the month-long master-in-residence program in the winter.

Mr Yagudin and the two guest dancers will return to Newtown three weeks before the fall production is presented. At that time Mr Yagudin will again work with the students of the Newtown school on fine-tuning their steps for the production. Mrs Mark calls the chance to work by Mr Yagudin “a wonderful opportunity for any young dancer.”

However, long before rehearsals begin for La Fille Mal Gardee, every single movement each dancer will be making during the production needs to be choreographed. The professional dancers from the Bolshoi will take care, for the most part, of learning their dances. Miss Krapavina and Mr Smilevski will be performing the exact choreography of the original Bolshoi production of La Fille Mal Gardee. The ballet debuted in Bordeau, France on July 1, 1789, and was first performed by the Balshoi Ballet Theatre in 1864.

Mrs Mark will handle the re-working of the ballet’s original choreography for remaining cast members.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for any young dancer to take part in this,” said Mrs Mark.

An art contest presented in private schools and high schools across the state will get the ball rolling for the fall production. MIM School of Ballet is asking art teachers to encourage their students to submit a sketch that will be used for the program, poster and fliers on La Fille Mal Gardee.

“We want the public to understand that not only is [the ballet production] open to Marsha’s students and Newtown, but everyone in the state,” explained Melissa Saint. “We’d like everyone in Connecticut, in all the arts, to be involved in this.” The student whose design is selected will be given a cash prize. MIM School of Ballet is also hoping to have the student’s work showcased not only at his or her school, but also at libraries and during the performances of La Fille Mal Gardee.

The ballet school is also working on raising money to present the fall ballet. The production’s budget has been set at $43,000, with fees broken down into major categories such as new costumes, lighting, stage rental, scenery, and guest artist fees and travel expenses, among other expected costs.

Melissa Saint has been sending letters out to individuals and businesses that have sponsored the ballet school’s productions in the past. Major sponsorship has already been promised by Duracell Corporation, headquartered in Bethel, and Taunton Press of Newtown.

Marsha Ismailoff Mark is the director of Marsha Ismailoff Mark School of Ballet, the artistic director of Malenkee Ballet Repertoire Company, and the artistic director for productions sponsored by the Committee for Ballet Miniature. Mrs Mark began her ballet studies at the age of seven, under George Balanchine and George Volodine. Both of her teachers had emigrated from Russia and established themselves in New York City and Westport, Conn. Mrs Mark danced in the first performance of The Nutcracker in the United States.

“It takes many qualities to be a dancer,” Mrs Mark has said. “…love of dance and music, talent, discipline, respect, and total dedication. A combination of all these characteristics brings out the professionalism and the creation of magic and fantasy we present to audiences.” She has choreographed over 20 original works and directed 11 Nutcracker Ballet performances.

MIM School of Ballet was founded in 1969 by Mrs Mark, who upholds the technical training and philosophy of her mentors, George Balanchine and George Volodine. The instruction at the Newtown school follows the Leningrad Pedagogical Method, a highly successful and structured curriculum of ballet technique that methodically builds upon a student’s previous instruction.

Dancers range in age from 3 to 18 years of age. They learn to be in full control of their bodies, to tune their ears to classical music, and to train their eyes to see perfection of line. Students develop poise, good posture, and discipline. Mrs Mark believes the self-confidence gained from the study of ballet carries over into every other facet of life. Of course, her students also learn some wonderful fairy tales.

“La Fille Mal Gardee is really a funny, funny story,” she said. “It’s a great ballet, with a comedic storyline. Coppelia was a beautiful story to present, but this one has even more for the dancers.”