The Lion,
the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Quick Facts
Narnia has become a particularly approachable doorway into ballet for young audiences. Because children may already know the story from the books or films, seeing The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe transformed into ballet can make classical dance feel familiar, magical, and immediately accessible.
Author: C. S. Lewis
Published: 1950
Original title: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Ballet adaptations: Multiple, with no single definitive version
Notable adaptation: Washington Ballet and Imagination Stage, 2012
Unusual feature: Some productions combine dancers, actors, puppetry, and other theatrical forms.
Aslan, the great lion of Narnia, is wise, powerful, and protective—a character whose goodness, sacrifice, and larger-than-life presence make him an extraordinary challenge for the stage.
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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was written by C. S. Lewis and first published in 1950. The story follows Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie, who discover that an ordinary wardrobe is a doorway into Narnia, a magical land trapped in endless winter by the White Witch. There they encounter Aslan, the great lion, along with fauns, talking animals, mythical creatures, and other inhabitants of the enchanted forest.
The lampost is a piece of ordinary human civilization that somehow survives in the enchanted wilderness of Narnia.= Dusk, near Westbroekpark, Kanaalweg, The Hague. Photo: Misty, Commons.
The story has proved surprisingly adaptable to ballet because so much of Narnia is already built around movement, transformation, and creatures. In 2012, the Washington Ballet and Imagination Stage created a hybrid production in which dancers and actors shared the principal characters, while a large articulated puppet brought Aslan to life. The production even used a dancer and actor together for characters such as Lucy, allowing dance to express emotions and journeys that could not be spoken.
Other choreographers have imagined Narnia very differently. Randy James created a ballet in 1998 and later completely reworked it for 10 Hairy Legs in 2016, with characters including Lucy, Edmund, the White Witch, Aslan, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, a faun, wolves, nymphs, birds, and a giant. Kristin Kingsley created a three-act version for Longmont Dance Theatre, using music by Edward Elgar, 120 pre-professional dancers, and a three-person Aslan puppet.
Left: Banstead Woods, Narnia trail, the lamppost. photo: AndyScott, commons. Right: Aslan the lion (Narnia), CS Lewis Square, Belfast, Northern Ireland. By Maurice Harron, 2016. Photo: Otter, Commons.
And then Narnia changed shape again. In 2015, Dutch National Ballet Junior Company and ISH combined classical ballet with street dance and high-tech staging, choreographed by Ernst Meisner and Marco Gerris. More recently, ballet schools and companies have continued creating their own versions, including Sarasota Ballet School, Ballet Ariel, and Kentucky Ballet Theatre. There is no single “Narnia ballet” that defines how the story must look onstage—and that is exactly what makes it such a fascinating subject for The Unbound: one story can become many completely different ballets.
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Walt Disney Archives, The Chronicles of Narnia flute, used by James McAvoy in The Chronicles of Narnia. Walt Disney Archives display, Frank G. Wells Building Photo: HarshLight from San Jose, CA,. Commons.
E N C O R E
✦ On Today’s Stage
Narnia continues to inspire ballet and dance productions, from full theatrical adaptations to versions created by dance schools and youth companies. Productions have ranged from conventional ballet to hybrids incorporating acting, puppetry, contemporary dance, and other theatrical forms.
✦ Iconic Interpreters
Choreographers including Randy James, Septime Webre, and David Palmer have each approached Lewis's story differently. Webre and Palmer's 2012 Washington Ballet adaptation was especially distinctive, pairing dancers with actors and using a huge puppet for Aslan.
✦ Legacy
Perhaps Narnia's greatest legacy in ballet is its flexibility. The wardrobe, the White Witch, Aslan, Tumnus, talking animals, and the frozen landscape give choreographers an entire world to translate into movement—without requiring them to agree on what that world should look like.
Reflections: This is where the paragraph will go.
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