A Ballet About Rodeo?

Scene one: The curtain opens on a cowgirl in a pasture. She's struggling to break a wild horse that bucks frantically, eventually throwing her to the ground. How, exactly, is that performed in a ballet? "It's not balletic in the classical sense at all," says Sharon Wehner, will play the cowgirl in "Rodeo" (pronounced ro-da'-o), the third and final act of Colorado Ballet's touring production All Pointes West, at the Pikes Peak Center on Sept. 19. Before its 1942 premiere, choreographer Agnes de Mille drew upon horseback riding to create the dance style for "Rodeo." The result: ballerinas galloping, cantering, walking bow-legged. Wehner jokes half-seriously that while bucking in rehearsal, she sometimes gets whiplash. While the choreography is unusual and the setting historical, Wehner says "Rodeo" tells a timeless coming-of-age story most everyone can relate to...ColoradoSpringsIndependent

When it comes to bronc riding ballerinas and pirouettes on ponies, I think I'll pass.