The Animals of the Snow Queen

Various animals play a part in Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen." In DanceVision's ballet, there are doves, a raven and a reindeer. Of course, these parts are all played by dancers who must bring characteristics of the animal to life in the role. There's a challenge in doing so in ballet so that the audience understands the intention without the movement becoming too campy or too much of a caricature.

Here we see choreographer Risa Kaplowitz explaining how reindeer move as she begins to set choreography on Josiah Foster who dances the part of Bae (pronounced "bay"), a reindeer. Watch as real life reindeer behavior is translated into dance.