To build his audience, Nevada Ballet Theatre’s artistic director Roy Kaiser uses a formula that mixes the old and the new, the well-known and the never-before-seen. The company has gained a reputation for staging extravagant story ballets, as well as premieres of new productions and pieces. The 2024-25 season has both: a Las Vegas premiere of a new Cinderella production and the world premiere of a new Peter Pan, among other works. Kaiser discussed this season’s shows with Desert Companion. The following excerpt has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
There are a few versions of Cinderella — why do you prefer Ben Stevenson’s rendition?
I always say he’s a master storyteller. He understands how to convey and propel a story mostly through movement but also interspersing pantomime — he has an incredible sense of humor. The stepsisters in Cinderella are incredibly comical. They’re funny and they kind of bring the audience along for the ride.
Another reason is, it’s accessible. People know the story of Cinderella, you’re going to be able to follow the story, even if you don’t know the first thing about dance or ballet. Part of what I’m trying to do here as director in developing the audience is break down the mystery around dance. It’s such a very accessible art form.
Peter Pan is another premiere — a new version with new design. What makes this one special?
It’ll be a world premiere of this specific production. It was choreographed by Trey McIntyre many years ago for the Houston Ballet, but we’re rethinking it, and he is re-choreographing it to take it from three acts to two without losing any of the story or the juicy flying sequences. We are producing new sets and costumes that are being designed in Scotland by Emma Bailey, who did the sets for Six on Broadway. We have the renderings, and they are stunning, absolutely beautiful.
The approach that Emma took, when she was designing the first act where a lot of the story is being told in their home, she really pored over Victorian children’s storybooks and tried to take that influence into her designs. There’s a show curtain that looks like the cover of a children’s storybook. We wanted the second act to become a little bit more of a fantasy and have a more magical feel. She did that by creating the set design and the costuming in a very colorful, almost neon palette.
NBT has featured world premieres of several works in recent years. Are you bringing any of those back?
I’m bringing back a ballet that we did a year ago that’s called Ghost Light (Ripples in the fabric of existence) that was choreographed by two French artists, A & A. They have a vast background of artistic experience — in dance, choreography, theater, film, directing, and writing. One of them has been a Cirque artist. They created this work for us last January and, as I watched it, I just kept saying, “This is the future. This is a good look at what dance is going to become.” And the audience was so excited by it. It’s an incredibly beautiful, powerful work that really shows this company at its best — I don’t usually repeat ballets this soon, but I want to ride that wave a little bit.