THURSDAY | 03.29.2012 | EXPRESS | E5 entertainment | Weekend Pass

it’s focused as much on the power strug- gle between youth and age as its boy- Back in Black meets-girl-in-glass-coffin setup. “There’s Dopey the dwarf rocks a droopy robe in been all this progress in medicine, peo- the Disney version of “.” But ple live longer and stay younger,” he says. in “Blanche Neige,” Ballet Preljocaj’s “I kept thinking about powerful women not-for-kiddies take on the Grimm fairy tale, French fashion superpower John in their 50s, who wear the same clothes Paul Gaultier summons a more sophis- and have the same style as their 17-year- ticated, edgy look for Snow White, her old daughters. It’s a deep conflict.” height-challenged friends and the evil Preljocaj captures this dynamic queen (played here in an earlier produc- through movement — the preening of tion by Céline Galli, center). Best known the (played in the Kennedy for outfitting Madonna onstage (he’s Center production by Patrizia Telleschi) the man behind those ’90s bullet bras), contrasted with the coltish footwork of Gaultier applies a similarly showy vibe Snow White (played by Virginie Causs- to the queen’s ensemble of dominatrix- in and Nagisa Shirai). Sets are abstract esque latex bodysuit, thigh-high boot rather than storybook sweet: The queen’s and a flame-dipped cape. “The queen is mirror is a massive proscenium of so very cruel, and we wanted you to see sorts, in which the villainess spies on that from her costume,” says compa- her young rival; the forest Snow White ny director Angelin Preljocaj. “Yet she’s hides in is alternately foreboding and also dark and passionate, which ex- comforting, with stark black-and-white plains the black and red.” Still, there are trees and toadstool-like poufs. moments when she appears more drag It’s not a new story. But Preljocaj’s queen than grand dame. inventive way of delivering it — just wait

ALL PHOTOS JC CARBONNE till you see how our heroine eats that poi- son apple — is a return to the childhood thrill of fairy tales both grim and glam- “The queen is so very cruel, orous. And that’s fresher and more com- and we wanted you to see pelling than any rendition of “Heigh-Ho.” that from her costume. JENNIFER BARGER (EXPRESS) Yet she’s also dark and Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW; Fri.-Sun., passionate, which explains sold out; 202-467-4600, Kennedy-center. DARKNESS the black and red.” org. (Foggy Bottom) — ANGELIN PRELJOCAJ, CHOREOGRAPHER AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF BALLET PRELJOCAJ, WHICH BRINGS “BLANCHE NEIGE,” A CONTEMPORARY SPIN ON “SNOW WHITE,” TO THE KENNEDY CENTER THIS WEEKEND.

AND LIGHTHis company, Ballet Preljocaj, brings Star Bright A Gaultier-costumed its “Blanche Neige,” a contemporary spin Snow White (played here by Virginie production brings a hard on the Snow White tale, to the Kenne- Caussin, left, with Emma Gustafs- edge to ‘Snow White’ dy Center Friday through Sunday for son, right, who played the queen a sold-out run. The traditional story in a previous production) gets prettier, more ethereal garb. “The and the Gustav Mahler score remain costume is one part dress and one Stage untouched, but Preljocaj’s vision of part almost like a baby’s swaddling,” Snow White has been “ of them the tale is decidedly 21st-century. This says Preljocaj. “Jean Paul had this idea all” since her days, and means racy costumes by French cou- that every time she’d turn, you see a with two new big-screen adaptations of ture designer Jean Paul Gaultier, ele- different side of her — woman, young the classic fairy tale due out this year, gant dancer-dwarves and choreogra- girl, woman, voilà!” True to her name, that title is hardly in jeopardy. But until phy that highlights the story’s mash-up the heroine is in snowy hues both for her 2008, the innocent brunette had never of danger and sexuality. dances in the woods and her eventual merited a ballet based on her good-versus- The plot will be familiar to anyone happily ever after. evil story. “I think it’s bizarre no one had who’s seen the Disney cartoon: A vain, done a dance version of ‘Snow White,’” jealous queen tries to get her young, says choreographer Angelin Preljocaj, raven-tressed stepdaughter knocked off who is based in Southern France. “You in the woods only to be foiled by seven compare it to ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and ‘Cin- short guys and, later, a prince. Still, Preljo- derella,’ and it’s a real thriller.” caj says his “Snow” feels modern because