Young dancers will have the opportunity to live the dream of life as a princess by performing in the production of "Cinderella Ballet."

The ballet will be performed at the Columbia Theatre on Friday, May 16. The Education Outreach Matinee will take place at 9:30 a.m., with a final performance at 7 p.m. Although tickets for the morning showing are currently sold out, there are tickets available for the 7 p.m. performance as of publication.

The ballet will be produced by Fellom Ballet LLC and is not a Southeastern production. The company is owned by sisters Martie Fellom, dance coordinator at Southeastern, Cynthia Tricou, education instructor, and Artie Gautier.

"Fellom's 'Cinderella' balletproduction brings the fairytale to life through ballet," said Fellom. "Since we are using Sergi Prokofiev's musical score written for a ballet, we include his fairy characters who assist Fairy Godmother: fairies of spring, summer, autumn and winter. Since we have a young cast ranging from age 3-50, we have created characters to further the traditional 'Cinderella' plot. Since this is a children's ballet, we include a narration over the music in several parts."

The Cinderella Ballet is part of an annual fairytale production. The ballet will feature both seasoned dancers and child performers.

"My involvement in 'Cinderella'was the design and writing of the production manuscript and also the selection of music, as well as digitally editing the music," said Fellom. "Organization of what and when will happen onstage is my area of expertise while my sister Artie, whose expertise is costume, decor and properties design, she creates and selects all of the visual elements for the production. My sister, Dr. Tricou, teaches the youngest students, as she has developed through the years excellent teaching strategies in ballet activities developmentally appropriate for the young dancers."

Fellom Ballet LLC has been creating young ballet dancers in Tangipahoa Parish for 49 years. Among the instructors of the dance company are Southeastern students and they often perform in formal productions with the children. Fellom Ballet LLC serves as an outlet for dancers of all ages to fulfill their passion.

Though "Cinderella" is a child-friendly production, Fellom expects audiences of all ages to enjoy the performance.

"I am confident that audience members of all ages will be enchanted with this re-telling of the classic 'Cinderella,'" said Fellom.