Images associated with ballet—lithe, tutu-clad dancers and elaborate, evocative set design—are distinctly rooted in Romantic artistic traditions, and some of the world's most iconic ballets are derived from definitive Romantic texts (The Nutcracker was inspired by a work penned by the influential E.T.A. Hoffman). Unsurprisingly, a work by the neo-Romantic Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck has also been adapted for the ballet with particular success: The Blue Bird, one of the writer's most enduring works, shares The Nutcracker's fairy tale vocabulary and its slightly surreal story line. Hadley's picturesque East Street Dance Center presents The Blue Bird, which features two nationally and internationally ranked ballerinas, Vitali Krauchenka and Vadim Pijikov, as well as some of the area's most talented young dancers.
Dec. 19-20, 7:30 p.m., Dec. 21, 2:30 p.m., $15-20, 47 East St., Hadley, (413) 584-5535, www.eaststreetballet.com.
