Members of the MSU Ballet Club dance at the Snyder-Phillips RCAH theater on April 12, 2025. The spring show, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream & Showcase,” included a variety of performances and Shakespeare inspired costumes.
Fairies, magical flowers and romantic mishaps collided in "A Midsummer Night’s Dream," the Michigan State University Ballet Club’s feature piece in their Spring Showcase. The showcase was held on April 12 at 1:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. at the RCAH Theater in Snyder Phillips Hall.
The showcase was in two parts, with the first half dedicated to the Shakespearean classic "A Midsummer Night’s Dream." The comedic tragedy was told through dance as illustrative movements spun the tale of tragic love and unfortunate mistaken identity.
MSU Ballet described the story as taking place in a Fairy Kingdom, where a character named Oberon is longing for the interest of their partner, Titania. Oberon uses a magical flower to bewitch Titania to sleep, and once she awakes, she will fall in love with the first person she meets.
This tale took a turn when Oberon meddles with the human world, causing Helena’s friend Hermia to accidentally fall in love with her friend’s lover, Lysander, and ballet chaos ensued.
Lysander was played by physiology freshman and company director Camden Kimmel, who has been dancing since he was 16 years old. Kimmel spoke to the community of MSU Ballet and its place in his life.
“I’m out there dancing with people who have been at MSU three times as long as I have been but we all really come together,” Kimmel said. “We all just really treasure each other, and we all want to bring our absolute best to the show.”
Kimmel also danced the role of Nick Bottom, a character who is turned into a donkey by the fairies. On top of juggling two roles in the first part of the show, Kimmel danced in four of the six other showcase performances. He also spoke about his goals for the club, such as increasing male membership and finding new practice spaces.
"We’re looking to add a bunch of new classes if we can hopefully get the practice space, because all of us at MSU Ballet love to dance,” Kimmel said. “We love to teach dance, we love to do dance, as much as we can get of it. We are going to keep striving for that time and time again.”
MSU Ballet offers free courses to students and welcomes dancers of all levels and backgrounds. Many of the dancers gracing the stage were new to ballet and MSU Ballet was their first introduction.
First-year PhD student specializing in human nutrition Dantona Léger said that although she had played sports for years, she had yet to try her hand at being a ballerina.
“I only started a few years ago, I never had any dance experience as a kid,” Léger said. “I started ballet and really it was a motivation to start new connections in my brain and work a different part of my brain.”
Léger was a part of the butterfly ensemble that wore bright wings with black leotards to make them stand out. She said she appreciated the community of MSU Ballet and their willingness to work with dancers of all levels.
“Everyone was kind to (the beginner ballerinas), including us in it and being super supportive,” Léger said. “They always supported us where we were at and tried to elevate us...they’ll meet you where you’re at.”
Although the club has a ballet focus, it hosts classes for students interested in a plethora of different dance mediums. That’s what drew animal science junior Zara Hertafeld to the club.
“I got the MSU Ballet newsletters and MSU Ballet started broadening and doing jazz, contemporary and lyrical and they offer free weekly classes,” Hertafeld said. “I think ballet is wonderful, but what really made me join this group was when it started getting into other forms (of dance) because variety is the spice of life.”
Hertafeld danced in the second portion of the showcase, being a part of the "La La Land"-inspired theatrical jazz performance and final contemporary dance. She spoke to the feeling of dancing on stage and embodying the music.
“We talked about the emotions around the piece and the little bit of love and heartache that went into it,” Hertafeld said. “There wasn’t exactly a storyline, more just trying to convey the angsty kind of heartbreak that was in the lyrics of the song.”
The second part of the showcase featured a Latin fusion dance to the tune of "NUEVAYoL" by Bad Bunny, as well as two solo dances and three group dances that allowed the dancers to flex different skills.
Before the show concluded, MSU Ballet made sure to give their founder, Margeaux Smith, her flowers. Smith started MSU Ballet four years ago and the community she has fostered around it is immense. Kimmel spoke to Margeaux's impact on the show and club overall.
“Margeaux has done the lion’s share of all this work,” Kimmel said. “I don’t know how we’re ever going to put on a show like this with her gone, but we’ll do our darnedest.”
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