The Orchestra Mice

The exploits of “The Orchestra Mice” will come to life through sound and dance when the East Tennessee Regional Symphony and City Youth Ballet join talents Sept. 8-9 at Seeger Chapel.

“The Orchestra Mice” is based on a popular children’s book by Jacqueline Jackson, who will add to the drama by narrating her story. The German family production tells the story of a mouse family found hiding in orchestral instruments and the mice parents’ attempts to teach their children about them. Dancer’s movements, gestures and expressions will illustrate Jackson’s rhyming story. The choreography has been adapted to classical ballet by CYB artistic director Susan Pace and associate director Traci Honeycutt.

The production was written by American composer and oboist Martha Hicks. Lewis Dalvit, director and conductor of the ETRS, said the production combines Hicks’ music with that of Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Bach, Beethoven, Shubert, Mozart, Bartok and Haydn.

Anna Daught and Wesley Clark dance the roles of mother mouse and father mouse. The dancers have had to learn to act and to fuse their movements with the music and words.

School groups are invited to the Sept. 8 performance at 10 a.m., for which teachers will receive an educational packet of classroom activities.