School presents whale of a tale on stage

It's the story of a flawed guy and a very large fish, and it has nothing to do with a certain megahit directed by Steven Spielberg.

Actually, the source material for "Jonah," a dance performance that will be presented at the College of Southern Nevada Friday and Saturday, goes back even further: the Old Testament's Book of Jonah.

Through the story of the hapless prophet who suffered some very bizarre adventures, choreographer Kelly Roth will explore themes of life, death, resurrection, redemption, duty and faith.

Not to mention what that whole stuck-in-a-giant-fish-for-three-days thing was all about.

The idea for the piece came when "I was just thinking about this character Jonah," explains Roth, dance program head at CSN and artistic director of the CSN Dance Ensemble.

Most people "find the amazing part is that he was in this whale, this big fish, for three days," Roth continues. "I was more interested in his state of mind."

Consider, for instance, that when God sent Jonah to the city of Nineveh -- back then, "about as far as you could get," Roth notes -- to tell people there to repent, Jonah's reaction is to high-tail it in the opposite direction.

"That is unusual for an Old Testament prophet to do that," Roth says. "So I was intrigued about why he did this."

Roth devised a back story for Jonah in an attempt to understand the wayward prophet. Along the way, he depicts Jonah's stint at sea -- Jonah, Roth notes, apparently thought he could "hide from his maker on a Mediterranean cruise" -- and that well-known run-in with the whale.

The story's expansive nature did pose a practical challenge or two. There was, for instance, "the challenge of creating, onstage, the image of this big sea creature enveloping this guy for three days," Roth says. "That's a theatrical assignment."

So, Roth turned to the example of one of his mentors, late media wizard Alwin Nikolais who, Roth says, excelled in creating onstage magic "on a shoestring budget."

Which is handy, Roth jokes, since "we're doing it barefoot, because we couldn't afford shoestrings."

Because Jonah's story is relatively short -- the Book of Jonah is only four chapters long -- Roth also fleshes out Jonah's story with dance pieces built upon the basic biblical narrative.

There is, for example, a piece devoted to Jonah's father, Amittai, and a dance sequence featuring the sailors on Jonah's ship. And, in the segment devoted to the Ninevites, Roth says, "there's a rival snake cult right out of 'Conan the Barbarian.' "

Roth notes that Jonah is an important enough figure to be name-checked by Jesus in the Gospels, and that the character's sheer humanness makes him easy to relate to.

"So there's something special about Jonah, and it's interesting that Christ, who was perfect, chose probably the least perfect character in the Bible, in terms of prophets, as an example."

The cast of "Jonah" will include both student dancers from the CSN Dance Ensemble and professional dancers from the Concert Dance Company. The performance will include a score by Norwegian composer Thor Ellyk and recorded by the Oslo New Music Ensemble. Costumes are by former Nevada Ballet Theatre designer Catherine Sterle.

Also on the program will be pieces presented by guest artist Marko Westwood, dancer Heather Nelson, CSN dance faculty member Leslie Roth, and Concert Dance Company members Chrystal Sullivan and Victoria Jones.

A reception will follow each performance.

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@review journal.com or 702-383-0280.