A Child's Tale (2023)

A Child’s Tale, set to Anatoly Lyadov's Baba Yaga, Op. 56, the complete suite of Eight Russian Folksongs for Orchestra, Op. 58, and Kikimora, Op. 63, incorporates themes from Léonide Massine’s 1917 ballet Contes Russes (French for “Russian tales”) to tell the tale of a group of villagers who, via the intercessions of mythic witch and spirit figures from Slavic folklore, find, nearly kill, and finally adopt an orphaned child. Featuring costume designs by Reid & Harriet Design and Andrew Jordan, sound design by Tei Blow, and lighting design by Joe Levasseur, the piece, commissioned by Baryshnikov Arts, premièred on October 12th, 2023 in the Jerome Robbins Theater at Bartshnikov Arts. The work is dedicated to my Ukrainian great-grandmother, the late Annie Scherba, née Sewulich (April 12th,1894 - March 10th, 1990).

*This video is an excerpt from the complete work.

Original Cast:

BABA YAGA
(a sorceress of the woods)
Christiana Axelsen, Janet Charleston, & Carol Teitelbaum

BABA YAGA’S HUT
(a magical roaming hovel)
Elise Knudson

THE KIKIMORA
(a lonesome house spirit)
Caitlin Scranton

THE CHILD 
(a foundling)
Mac Twining

THE NEWLYWEDS
Mariah Anton Arters & Cemiyon Barber

VILLAGERS
Kyle Gerry, Dominica Greene, Paul Singh, & Carlo Antonio Villanueva