Park City’s own ballet company BalletNext is stirring up a cauldron of works that will take the Jim Santy Auditorium stage on Wednesday and Thursday at the Park City Library.The first is a “spooktacular version” of “Giselle,” set for on Oct. 23, and the second will be a night of mixed repertoire on Oct. 24. Both performances will start at 6:30 p.m.Free tickets and donation-based tickets are available by visiting parkcity.events.mylibrary.digital.Wednesday’s performance marks the first time BalletNext Artistic Director Michele Wiles, a former principal dancer for the American Ballet Theatre, will dance the title role of “Giselle.”“I have never danced the role before, but I have always wanted to,” she said.After talking with retired Prima Ballerina Cynthia Gregory, Wiles decided to create her own version of the classic ballet.“She told me if I wanted to dance it that I should be myself,” Wiles said. “I mean, Giselle is a sparkly young woman who becomes a see-through ghostly spirit.”Wiles, as she has done with other classics, added her own touches and twists to this “Giselle.”“Instead of a heart problem that kills her, our Giselle lacks iron and passes out, because she hasn’t eaten her greens,” Wiles said with a laugh. “So the character of Hilarion, which we always say ‘sounds like hilarious,’ is trying to track her down. He is seen carrying a satchel of kale as he tromps through the woods.”Renowned dancer Ignacio Jose Rivera will perform Hilarion, and the pack of Wilis, a group of ghosts who kidnap Hilarion, will be danced by dancers who are enrolled in BalletNext’s youth program.The Wilis will emerge dressed in tutus, and Wiles asked them all to get Halloween masks.“I did that because at the end of the second act, they will bring out Hilarion, and they’ll dance to the song ‘Kidnap the Santa Claus’ from the Tim Burton movie ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas,’” she said with a laugh. “It will be fun, but I don’t think Ignacio has ever seen a ‘Giselle’ like this.”Sophie Kelly takes a leap under the eye of BalletNext’s Matthew Helms at Artistic Director Michele Wiles’ home studio. Credit: Clayton Steward/Park RecordThe ballet features another nod to “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” Wiles said.Resident dancer Matthew Helms has a costume of the movie’s villain, Oogie Boogie, and they are going to have Rivera dance his variation to the music of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”“I’m glad to bring a little bit of this type of fun to the ballet for the kids and families, because in the original ‘Giselle’ everyone is dying,” she said.Adding to the fun will be three dancers from Ogden’s Julie Moffitt Ballet School, according to Wiles.“They will make up the corps de ballet, and they are part of our pre-professional program,” she said.In addition, the production will feature two dancers — Carla Hernandez and Ava Prentice — from the Connecticut Ballet.“We really worked on the story, and I think it will be a hoot,” Wiles said. “But that’s not to say we are dumbing things down. We are still performing high-level and technical dancing.”Stepping into the role of Giselle for the first time is a welcome challenge for Wiles.“It’s interesting for me because while it’s technical, you have to overlay it with an ethereal quality,” she said. “That’s been fascinating for me to discover.”The ballet will be narrated by Katrina “Mis Katrina” Kmak, Park City Library’s youth services librarian, Wiles said.  “She’s putting the finishing touches on the script,” she said. “It’s been fascinating to share this story in a more lighthearted way, and I’m actually really proud of it.”The mixed repertoire performance on Oct. 24 will be more akin to the Works in Process events BalletNext hosts throughout the year, Wiles said.These performances, which include discussions, give audiences an idea of how a ballet is created. “It has more of an education component to what we are doing,” she said. “People get to talk with us, and it’s a catalyst for them to get more involved. I really enjoy engaging with the community that way.”The repertoire will include a pas de deux dance to two different pieces of music, Wiles said.“The pas de deux was first choreographed for a work called ‘Petrichor,’ which means ‘the smell of rain,’” she said. “It was originally set on a piece of music called ‘Infra’ by Max Richter.”Last May, Wiles and Helms reworked the dance to Josh Kelley’s song, “Loves You Like Me.”“We performed the two versions during our Works in Process performances last month, and the  audience really loved seeing the difference,” she said. “Some people liked the Josh Kelley version, because they thought it was dynamic and expressive, and others really liked the Pteichor version because there were no words. So they could make up their own stories.”Matthew Helms watches the dancers form during practice on Oct. 8. Credit: Clayton Steward/Park RecordIn addition to the pas de deux, BalletNext will perform one of Wiles’ newer works, “The Devil Wears Pointe Shoes,” which was inspired by Western films.“This piece has really become a company finale and makes the other performances really dynamic,” she said. “We’ve also added dancers from Ogden’s Julie Moffitt Ballet School to the performance. They are trainees who are all in high school, and they will be a massive part of the mixed-rep program. It’s been fun to work with them.”BalletNext’s Spooktacular ‘Giselle’When: 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 23 Where: Park City Library’s Jim Santy Auditorium, 1255 Park Ave. Cost: Free, but donations will be accepted Web: tinyurl.com/2k8ekbxaAlsoBalletNext: Mixed RepertoireWhen: 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24 Where: Park City Library’s Jim Santy Auditorium, 1255 Park Ave. Cost: Free, but donations will be accepted Web: tinyurl.com/a8pamm6zThe post BalletNext conjures up two nights of imaginative choreography appeared first on Park Record.