Mexico’s CND to present gay-themed ballet for kids

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The famous “Happily ever after” formula from children’s stories will now be open to sexual diversity and inclusion. Mexico’s National Dance Company will launch the world premiere of the ballet " Rey y Rey" ( King and King ), by choreographer Demis Volpi , which tells the love story of two princes who decide to form a new non-traditional family .

The ballet is based on the children’s book of the same title by dutch writers Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland , which addresses sexual diversity and the nature of love.

The story tells of a queen who decides to abdicate her throne and demands her son, the prince, to marry so that he may be crowned king. The young prince is presented with several princesses, but none of them seems to arouse his interest. The last princess is accompanied by her brother, who immediately draws the prince’s attention. They both fall madly in love, marry, and become King and King.

The idea came about a few months ago when Ricardo Calderón, general director of CENART , suggested that Mario Galizzi, former director of the National Dance Company , should create a ballet for children based on the dutch story. The choreographer accepted immediately and invited Demis Volpi, German-Argentinian opera director, to participate in the production.

“I think it is very important to start addressing this subject in children’s literature. There should be more stories about different kinds of love where men fall in love with men and women fall in love with women. As far as I am aware, there are no children’s plays that focus on sexual diversity. The subject of gay love in adult theater is not a new thing, Death in Venice by Benjamin Britten is an example of this, though it is true that the subject hasn’t been dealt with enough. I don’t know why no one has done something like this before, but now is the time, so let’s begin,” the choreographer explained in an interview.

The scenery will be borne by Jorge Ballina , with costumes by Jerildy Bosch . Both creative artists have already worked with Volpi to present The Rite of Spring earlier this year.

The overall structure of King and King is no different than that of any other tale. It doesn’t take place in a specific time period or region, as is the case in the traditional fantasy genre.

“There is an artlessness in the dutch writers’ dialogues that I find very valuable and which I have tried to reproduce on the stage. My wish is that, many years from now, people speak of King and King as they would of any other ballet. We shouldn’t think of it as something special because of its theme. We may find it a bit bold or extraordinary today, but that need not necessarily be the case. Ballet should have both princes and princesses falling in love with whomever they want ,” he stated.

King and King will have 17 dancers on scene and two squads. With a 90-minute duration , the play includes famous musical themes by classic composers such as Chopin, Rossini, Vivaldi, Mozart, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky Korsakov, Ravel, and Arvo Pärt . The music will be performed by the Enharmonia Vocallis choir , led by Fernando Menéndez .

“Occasional doubts arise within the production team,” claimed the choreographer, “sometimes people ask things such as: What do you think will happen? How will audiences react? But I am not worried or concerned. Before anyone should be for or against anything, they should experiment it firsthand. When people see the honesty and love that we have put into our work, they will not be offended. If anyone does get offended, it will have nothing to do with us. People are expected to have different opinions as with every other play, and this is ultimately a good thing,” he expressed.

“ Oscar Wilde used to say that an artist should be free, that there was no such thing as moral or immoral art . This play may raise questions about language adaptation and other formal details, but no one can deny the validity of its content,” Volpi concluded.

The ballet will be held from July 27 to August 5 at CENART’s Theater of the Arts . You may purchase your tickets through Ticketmaster .