The jungle comes alive with music and movement when State Street Ballet, under the artistic direction of Rodney Gustafson and William Soleau, brings Gustafson’s original ballet The Jungle Book to the Lobero Theatre on April 29. The company just finished a Southwestern U.S. tour and will head to Japan — Osaka and Tokyo — with the production in May.
“The story we tell is from Rudyard Kipling’s stories, not the Disney movie version,” said Gustafson. “We created movement styles for the dancers representing the animals they portray, and the music is by Czech composer Milan Svoboda, specifically for this work.”
The score was recorded in Prague by the Symphonic Orchestra of the National Theatre and the Milan Svoboda Jazz Orchestra, featuring vocalist Yvetta Blanarovičová.