COLUMBUS, Ohio — BalletMet is set to bring back fan-favorite ballet "Alice," its take on the beloved classic stories of "Alice in Wonderland," for the first time since 2018.
This time around, dancers will be sharing the spotlight with some furry friends looking for a forever home.
"It's a wonderful production choreographed by our artistic director Edwaard Liang and it's got an incredible set and beautiful costumes and a great story," said Sue Porter, executive director of BalletMet. "It's very, very family friendly and we're excited that the bunnies are coming to the theater to visit us as well."
When "Alice" - a story that features arguably one of the most famous rabbits in pop culture - opens on Feb. 9, bunnies from Ohio House Rabbit Rescue will be on hand to greet the audience. The idea is to educate about what a commitment rabbit adoption is and, hopefully, find good homes for some of the organizations rescued bunnies.
"So many rabbits are in need of caring homes that actually know how to care for them," explained Mia Ng, a volunteer with Ohio House Rabbit Rescue. "All of the rescues are overflowing with bunnies. They're overcapacity. The waitlists are so long to surrender bunnies because people get them from pet stores and breeders with no background on how to care for a bunny."
Ng said that many people who are unable to properly care for their new pet rabbits will end up in small cages which keep them from thriving or the owners will ultimately end up surrendering the bunnies or just releasing them into the wild. She described that practice as "a huge problem" because domesticated rabbits are unable to survive in the wild. According to Ng, when the rescue learns of abandoned rabbits, they will send a team out to try and locate and rescue the abandoned rabbits.
Porter said that BalletMet, now in its 46th season, relies on the community every day for support. And, as a member of the community, the group wants to help shine their spotlight on other organizations within the community, like Ohio House Rabbit Rescue, that could use the support.
"If we can...help them find homes for some really cute, cute bunnies, that's amazing," said Porter.
Ng pointed out that rabbits are oftentimes misunderstood pets that require a lot of love and attention to thrive.
"Every bunny deserves a chance; every bunny is special," Ng said.
She explained that, at Ohio House Rabbit Rescue, the focus is on educating potential bunny parents about what their new pets will need to thrive. "Once you have that education, they're just amazing animal companions."
BalletMet's "Alice" runs Feb. 9-11 at the Ohio Theatre in downtown Columbus. For showtimes and ticket information, just visit their website: https://www.balletmet.org/.