Young dancers prep for Waterloo premier of ballet-opera The Fairies

Knox Presbyterian Church in Waterloo was a rush of activity Friday morning as 50 dancers from Waterloo region put in one last rehearsal before the premier of Vera Causa Opera's The Fairies.

• Canadian nurses killed in WWI hospital ship sinking commemorated in opera
• How a Canadian opera singer is honouring his Indigenous roots

The Waterloo-based opera company is performing the opera-ballet Friday, Saturday and Sunday with the help of the Contemporary School of Dance.

Megan Doig, who is 17 and has been dancing since she was three, says it is the first time the dance company has worked with an opera.

"They're singing right in front of us and it's super loud," she told CBC News. "But, definitely it's cool to get used to it and it's just a different experience dancing with them."

The Fairies was written by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini and is a relatively short work, running roughly one hour.

It tells the story of a happy couple engaged to be married, but their bliss is interrupted when the young man is entranced by woodland fairies.

The story is "very, very morbid," Doig said, "but it makes for a really good performance on stage."

She also said it's a challenge for the older dancers, who have to embody a lot of dark and powerful emotions.

"For ballet, it's usually very happy and light, but for this performance we're really focusing on being dark," she said. "It's a different way of thinking about the movements and the things we're doing."

The younger dancers have a lighter role to play, portraying the villagers in the happy opening scenes.

But Destiny Soehner told CBC News that being happy is harder than it looks, because you really have to play up the emotion.

"You try to express it with your body and your face," she said. "When you're happy, you've really got to smile."

Her fellow dancer Grace Murray said it's been a really positive experience working with the opera company and she hopes the audience will appreciate the end result.

"I hope that they really just have fun with it and embrace it and like it a lot."