RAHWAY, N.J. – Choreographer, Marilyn Klaus, has blended hit cocktail mixes for her Cocktail Hour performed by Ballets With A Twist, coming to the Hamilton Stage in Rahway this month. 
Seen here at upper left is both a company’s soloist and children’s ballet mistress/dance instructor, Dorothea Garland; in the forefront is Marilyn Klaus, choreographer of Ballets With A Twist. In the background is another soloist, Emily Anton.
Consisting of 10 adults dancers and “augmented” by three children, Ballets With A Twist is certainly an unconventional dance group, Klaus inferred.
“This season, three children are in the Margarita dance. It takes place in the Southwest. It has a Latin flavor, where there are mythical goddesses, rocks, trees, and worshippers of the sun — such like what the Aztecs did. It’s somewhat like the Virgin Mary connected with the earth,” Klaus explained.
Even though Klaus has been a lifelong dancer and choreographer, she has been the choreographer for this particular dance group since 2009.
Next weekend, she brings her signature Ballets With A Twist performance, featuring several cocktail beverages such as Bloody Marys, Margaritas, White Russians, Zombies, and Shirley Temples, to the stage. Cocktail Hour has served other drinks such as Gimlets, White Russians, Holy Waters, Sputniks, Mint Juleps, and Manhattans, at other venues.
Seen here, the Bloody Mary cocktail performance, choreographed by Marilyn Klaus for Ballets With A Twist.
Ballets With A Twist is a New York dance company that has performed nationally and has received accolades of recognitions from news publications, such as The New York Times, The Huffington Post and The Wall Street Journal. Television stations, including New York City’s PIX11 Morning News and a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, have also raved about the nature of this dance company. They are talking about how Klaus puts a “twist” in her choreography.
Klaus’ dancers each represents cocktails as they perform. During rehearsal in the Fazioli Room at the one-year-old Hamilton Stage, three young kids practiced the Margarita dance with an adult, who was in costume as a Margarita and had the color of a Margarita in a wine glass.
“The children have to audition for the parts,” Klaus said. She said that their parents bring them to auditions.
Given the cultural phenomenon surrounding these dances and the stories that each performance tells, the company’s spokesperson said that parents are thrilled to see their children learning and doing what they enjoy on stage with professionals.
“There are non-alcoholic Shirley Temples and Roy Rogers for the children,” Klaus informed.
Klaus continued, “The children and the parents realize there’s a sense of humor and wittiness involved.”
Three children perform the Margarita for Ballets With A Twist dance company.
She cautioned that the children dance only the Margarita. She said it takes a lot of work for the children to practice the dances, but it is a chance for their individual characters to shine through. She explained that the children’s dances require a lot of stillness in the show. All three children said they enjoy dancing.
Larry McCullough is managing director of Hamilton Stage that seats 200 people. He said his brand new building for the performing arts has great lighting and is the right place for the performances.
Ballets With A Twist will be at the Hamilton Stage Oct. 25 to 27. For more information visit their website: www.balletswithatwist.com.