Bowling Green State University ScholarWorks@BGSU Honors Projects Honors College Spring 4-26-2016 The Wishing Well: A Children's Ballet (A Composer's Perspective) Lydia Dempsey [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/honorsprojects Part of the Composition Commons, Dance Commons, Marketing Commons, and the Music Performance Commons Repository Citation Dempsey, Lydia, "The Wishing Well: A Children's Ballet (A Composer's Perspective)" (2016). Honors Projects. 217. https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/honorsprojects/217 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the Honors College at ScholarWorks@BGSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Projects by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@BGSU. The Wishing Well A Children’s Ballet Lydia Dempsey The Wishing Well A Children’s Ballet Lydia Dempsey CONTENTS Characters 3 Synopsis 3 Instrumentation 4 PART 1: Town Awakens 5 Fay enters and brings the town to life A happy couple strolls through town More townspeople enter and say hello Townspeople begin dancing Young boys run through crowd; ladies fall Young girls enter and help ladies back up Grave appears Family and friends come to give their condolences Marisol is overcome by emotion INTERLUDE 1 23 PART 2: Years Later, at the House 27 Belda does her chores; Cerise sits and watches Cecile dumps water from bucket Marisol sends Belda to the well Belda travels to the well Fay enters and tells the audience her plan Belda re-enters Belda makes a wish Belda sees Fay in disguise Belda drops bucket, converses with Fay, and gets water Fay reveals herself as a fairy Fay gives gift of diamonds Camilla enters and Fay disappears Camilla and Belda dance together Diamonds enter Belda runs home and diamonds follow Cerise sees diamonds Marisol sees diamonds INTERLUDE 2 55 PART 3: Home Again 57 Belda tells family about Fay Belda shows how diamonds follow her Marisol and Cerise join in dancing Marisol sends Cerise to the well Cerise leaves for the well Fay tells audience her plan for Cerise Cerise re-enters Fay and Cerise make eye contact Fay asks Cerise for water Cerise sticks her nose up at Fay Cerise gets her own water Cerise leaves well and runs into Cecile Frogs enter Cerise and Cecile notice the frogs Frogs have surrounded Cerise and she is disgusted; Cecile has left Cerise screams Frogs creep towards Cerise Cerise tries to escape the frogs Cerise leaves for home INTERLUDE 3 83 PART 4: On the Way Home 89 Cerise is on her way home, followed by the frogs Diamonds and frogs dance together Marisol blames Belda for the gifts Belda is cast out of the house Belda is leaving Marisol is visibly exhausted Casting out Cerise Cerise begs to stay Daughters each alone Marisol is alone, in anguish Marisol gives up and lies down Belda and Cerise’s encounter at the well Belda and Cerise make amends Fay enters, unseen Fay makes her presence known Fay removes gifts Belda and Cerise go together into town Evening in the town Sun is disappearing The town is going to sleep Fay concludes story CHARACTERS Fay (Fairy) Belda (Young Daughter) Cerise (Elder Daughter) Marisol (Mother) Camilla (Cerise’s Friend) Cecille (Cerise’s Friend) Aiglentina (Flower Lady) Young Belda Young Cerise Diamond Lead Diamonds Frog Leads Frogs Village Men Village Ladies Village Boys Village Girls SYNOPSIS Outside a small village lives a widowed mother named Marisol and her two daughters, Cerise and Belda. After the passing of her husband, Marisol begins favoring Cerise. Every day, Marisol sends Belda out to the village well to collect water while she and Cerise remain in the comfort of their home. While completing her daily trip to draw water from the well, Belda encounters a feeble elderly woman who asks for a sip of water. Belda is eager to share water with the woman. As Belda passes the water to her, the woman reveals herself as a fairy, called Fay. To reward Belda for having a kind heart, Fay bestows upon her the gift of diamonds. These diamonds pour from Belda’s mouth whenever she speaks. At her arrival home, her mother and sister quickly discover her new gift as Belda relays her encounter with the fairy. Her Mother becomes upset that elder daughter Cerise did not receive this gift, and so she sends Cerise out to the well. Cerise is irritated that she must travel to the well because it is her sister’s task. When Cerise arrives at the well, she is confused when she sees no old woman and no fairy. Instead, she sees a princess. As they make eye contact, the princess begins to ask Cerise for water; however, Cerise sticks her nose up at the princess. Cerise gets her own water as the princess makes another request for water. Cerise ignores the request and instead begins to walk home. Little did she know that the princess was actually Fay in disguise. Fay bestows on her the gift of frogs whenever she speaks. On her journey home Cerise meets her friend Cecile. As Cerise begins to tell her disappointing story, the frogs emerge. Cecile is disgusted and runs away from her. The frogs surround Cerise, and she screams. When Cerise arrives home, Marisol is furious that Cerise has been cursed. She blames Belda and casts Belda out of the home. Soon, the frogs drive Marisol crazy. Since she can no longer stand them she also casts out Cerise. Marisol lives the rest of her life alone without her family. Belda and Cerise learn to live with their gifts from the fairy. Some time passes, and then one day, Belda and Cerise cross paths at the well. They speak to each other and find compassion for each other. Their relationship is restored. As they make amends, Fay appears and reverses her gifts because she is pleased with them. This story is based on Charles Perrault’s fairy tale titled “Diamonds and Toads.” INSTRUMENTATION Flute (Flute, Piccolo) Clarinet (B , Bass) b Bassoon Horn (F) Percussion Glockenspiel Suspended Cymbal Triangle 2 Woodblocks (High, Low) Cowbell Snare Drum Gong Wind Chimes Bass Drum 2 Violins Viola Cello Double Bass Composer’s Note The Wishing Well was premiered on April 2, 2016 at the Bowling Green High School Performing Arts Center, conducted by Robert Ragoonanan, with choreography by Sophia Schmitz. The ballet was created to provide the university and local community with a free arts event, introduce young audiences to music and ballet, enrich people’s lives through dance and music, provide young ballerinas with the opportunity to perform a ballet, and expand the repertoire of contemporary ballet. Although dance collaboration is becoming more prevalent in the contemporary music scene and many ballets written in the 20th century are considered important works, few Bowling Green State University composers have worked in the genre. In fact, no other composer has written a ballet while a student at the university. I believe that ballet is a captivating genre that will draw new audiences to contemporary music, and I hope The Wishing Well is a stepping-stone to further dance collaborations in the Bowling Green community. Score in C Te Wishing Wel Lydia Dempsey Part 1 Town Awakens Andante = 76 Fay enters and brings the town to life q Flute 4 U U" ˙ U ˙ U >œ œ. œ >œ œ. œ & 4 ! ! ! Ó Ó p P Solo F f > U > U > > Clarinet in B U U œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ. œ b 4 " & 4 ! ! ! ‰ ‰ Ó ‰ ‰ Ó p P F f Bassoon ? 4 U U" U U 4 ! ! ! ! ! ! Horn in F 4 U U" U U & 4 ! ! ! ! ! ! Glockenspiel 4 U U" U U & 4 ! ! ! ! ! ! Tri. l.v. 1 1 1 1 Percussion 4 U U" U U ã 4 ! ! ! J ‰ Œ Ó J ‰ Œ Ó J ‰ Œ J ‰ Œ œ> œ. œ >œ œ. œ Violin I 4 U U" U U & 4 ! ! ! ! ! F f Violin II 4 U U" U U >œ œ. œ >œ œ. œ & 4 ! ! ! ! ! F f Viola 4 U U" U U B 4 ! ! ! ! ! ! U U Cello ? 4 U U " 4 bw bw w ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ w " p P F U U Double Bass ? 4 U U " 4 bw bw w ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ w " p P F 1 2 3 4 5 6 Copyright ©2016 by Lydia Dempsey. All rights reserved. 6 1 A happy couple strolls through town 7 Fl. #w 5 ˙. 3 ˙. œ & 4 Ó 4 J ‰ Œ Œ ƒ P p B Cl. #w ˙. b 5 Ó 3 ˙. œ ‰ Œ Œ & 4 4 J ƒ P p Bsn. ? #w 5 ˙. 3 4 Ó 4 ! ! ƒ P 7 Hn. 5 Ó 3 ! ! & #w 4 ˙. 4 ƒ P 7 Glk. 5 3 & ! 4 ! 4 #œ Œ Œ ! œ 7 P Perc. 1 ã J ‰ Œ Ó 45 ! 43 ! ! 7 Vln. I #w ˙. œ œ. ˙. œ œ œ. & 45 Œ 43 J ‰ Œ ƒ P p P Vln. II #w ˙. j & 45 œ œ. œ 43 ˙. œ ‰ œ œ. œ ƒ P p P Vla. B #w 5 n˙. 3 j ‰ Œ # w 4 # ˙. ˙ 4 ˙. œ œ ƒ P p P 3 3 3 Vc. ? 5 ˙ 3 ˙. œ ‰ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 4 œ œ œ œ œ œ . 4 J ƒ p p 3 3 3 D.B. ? 5 3 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 4 œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙. 4 ˙. ˙. ƒ p p 7 8 9 10 7 11 Fl.