Springfield’s vibrant arts scene takes center stage this weekend as Copper Coin Ballet Company presents Sleeping Beauty at The Legacy Theatre in downtown Springfield. Performances are set for Feb. 28 and March 1 at 2 p.m., bringing one of ballet’s most beloved classics to life in an accessible, family-friendly format.
Anna Lieberman stars as Aurora, the joyful 16-year-old princess whose birthday celebration takes a dramatic turn. Cambrie Easley steps into the dramatic role of Carabosse, the vengeful fairy who curses Aurora after being excluded from her christening. Through expressive movement and pantomime — ballet’s version of sign language — the dancers tell a timeless story without a single spoken word.
Associate Artistic Director Ronda Brinkman says selecting Sleeping Beauty was intentional. Its familiar storyline makes it easy for audiences of all ages to follow, even without dialogue. The production has been thoughtfully shortened to about 90 minutes, making it perfect for younger viewers experiencing ballet for the first time.
For the dancers, Copper Coin is more than a ballet company — it’s a community. Years of friendship, rehearsal, and shared growth culminate on stage, inspiring the next generation of local performers.
Tickets are available at CopperCoinBallet.org. Whether you’re a lifelong ballet fan or brand new to dance, this production offers a magical afternoon in Springfield.
Transcripted by AI with human review.
Craig McFarland:
I'm joined by some members of the Copper Coin Ballet Company talking about their upcoming production of Sleeping Beauty, which will be happening Feb. 28 and again March 1 at The Legacy Theatre in downtown Springfield. Both shows are at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at CopperCoinBallet.org. Let me introduce you to Anna Lieberman, who's going to be playing Aurora, then Cambrie Easley, who is our Carabas, and then the Associate Artistic Director and marketing director for Copper Coin, Ronda Brinkman.
I'm someone that hadn't been exposed to dance until I moved into the Springfield area. It seems like there's such a rich tradition of dance here. Anna, can you talk about how you got involved in dancing and how long you've been dancing?
Anna Lieberman:
I've been dancing since I was two years old. It's been a part of my life for a long time. I dance at Dance Art Studio on MacArthur.
Craig McFarland:
Cambrie, talk about when you got started with dance, and how long you've been dancing.
Cambrie Easley:
I've also been dancing since I was two years old, and I've been at Springfield Dance.
Craig McFarland:
At Springfield Dance, what styles of dance do you usually gravitate towards? Is it all ballet? When you started that young, did you start in a lot of different styles? How did you come to enjoying ballet?
Cambrie Easley:
At Springfield Dance? I do ballet, and I also take jazz and modern and hip-hop, but I feel like we're more focused on ballet and taking a lot of time on our technique and point work.
Craig McFarland:
What is it about dance as artistic expression that you gravitated that towards, as a hobby, and that you put a lot of hours into?
Anna Lieberman:
I love being able to capture a character on stage and you get to be yourself.
Craig McFarland:
Ronda, you you are someone that has been such a staple of dance in the Springfield area, and now you've been involved with Copper Coin Ballet since its inception several years ago. How you go about selecting these different dance opportunities that you give to the people in the company, and how you go about selecting the shows that you're going to put on? You've decided to produce Sleeping Beauty this time. How do you go about that selection process?
Ronda Brinkman:
Dance is real is interesting, because people think that they have to be in a big city to experience ballet, and that if you're not in a big city, then you're not going to get the caliber of dancing that you would get in New York or London or another big city, but the arts are attainable for everyone. It's how you present a show focusing in on the strengths of the dancers that makes the show amazing. We look at who we have in the company, their strengths and what shows really pull toward the dancers. Sleeping Beauty is one of those iconic classics that every child has heard of. Sleeping Beauty, whether it's been from Disney or the storybook, it makes it attainable for the audience. They don't have learn a new story without words. That's always a little bit of a trick with the audience, not having the words. They are just getting dance, so Sleeping Beauty, everyone knows the story. You go in and you understand what you're getting from the first note.
Craig McFarland:
Anna, as Aurora is our Sleeping Beauty. Talk to me about the character of Aurora and how you've prepared to portray that character through dance.
Anna Leiberman:
In the story, Aurora is 16 years old for most of it, it takes place at her 16th birthday party, and she's supposed to be young and excited about her life. She's choosing a prince to marry. It's all very exciting and positive. At her birthday party, she's gifted by Carabas a spindle, and she loves it. She's showing her friends. She dances with it until she pricks her finger and she's supposed to die, but the lilac fairy comes and she softens the curse so that she doesn't die. She'll only fall asleep until her true love, the prince, comes and wakes her up.
Craig McFarland:
Cambrie, talk to me about Carabas in this, for those that are used to the Disney classic Sleeping Beauty, we would think of this part as the villain. We'd think of this as Maleficent. Talk to me about Carabas and how you get to portray evil in your dance.
Cambrie Easley:
Carabas comes in at the christening, Aurora's birth, which is the prologue of the story. She makes a entry, she's scary, and has crows and imps flying around. She curses the baby and lets everyone know that when she grows up, she will prick her finger and die. Then she does come in on her 16th birthday and gives her the spindle. She doesn't know that the lilac fairy softened the curse to fall asleep. Carabas believes that her plan worked, and she killed Aurora.
Craig McFarland:
Spoiler. The person invited to a party wants to kill the baby. What's the motivation? Isn't there something about being taken out of the royal bloodline?
Cambrie Easley:
She was not invited, and she took that to heart, because all the other fairies in the kingdom were all invited to this big christening of the new princess, and she had to take her revenge.
Craig McFarland:
That's serious revenge. Randa, I love that you talked about this expression of being a relatable story to a lot of people, but without any words because this is dance. When you're looking to choreograph this or to make it appear artistically on stage, what kind of considerations do you have to take that ballet is dance without those words and you've got to guide your audience through dance.
Ronda Brinkman:
You have to choose people that the that can pull off a character. These two are so good at that. Cambrie, her face is so expressive, and that is huge if you if you are dancing on a stage. A lot of our stages, the audience is really far away. When we perform at UIS, the audience is so far away. If your face doesn't make over exaggerated movements and your body language isn't overly exaggerated, your audience won't understand what you are trying to portray. It's a like sign language. It's ballet sign language, which we call pantomime. There are certain movements that make up certain words. By your body language and by your your movement, it's almost undeniable what it means. Like when Carabas says, "Die," she throws her head back, she crosses her arms, and then throws a maniacal laugh in there. It's all body language.
Craig McFarland:
What I love about the arts community in Springfield is that we allow opportunities for younger people to get involved. It is incredible that we can foster this kind of experience. Talk about some of your favorite experiences being part of Copper Coin.
Cambrie Easley:
My favorite experiences are the shows and how much work we put into them. It lets you appreciate that we're able to do this. The Nutcracker is a classic tradition for everyone, being able to be a part of people's Christmas traditions makes you feel special. Growing up watching The Nutcracker, every little girl's dream is to be on that stage. It's a dream come true whenever you get to do it. Also, like rock, ballet is so much fun because it's not just ballet, it's like other types of styles, but it's always so fun to do.
Craig McFarland:
Anna, do you have fun experiences or memories about Copper Coin?
Anna Lieberman:
My favorite things about Copper Coin are all of the friends I've made through the whole process. Knowing that we get to inspire another generation of dancers in Springfield that might want to do the same thing we're doing. It's comforting to know that we have a community of artists and dancers who understand each other, they like the same things that we do, and we can relate to each other. Because this is a hard thing to do, but it's also so beautiful and artistic at the same time. That's what I really enjoy about it.
Craig McFarland:
Ronda, the parents you mentioned thought that you have to go to a big city to be able to see ballet. If you have a parent listening with a younger child, what would your recommendation be for coming to see Sleeping Beauty or taking in The Nutcracker, when you perform that in the winter? Why is it important to expose young children to different art forms, including dance?
Ronda Brinkman:
It's important to start when they're very young. Let them see the stories and take a class at a studio where they're providing artistic training.
This world has gotten so competitive in so many ways with sports and and other art forms. I did not grow up in a competition studio, that was not part of what I learned growing up. It was more about dance as an art form and feeling good about what I was doing for the sake of doing it. If that makes sense, you don't need the award. I did plenty of competitive sports, and getting awards is fun, but at the end of the day, I don't have those trophies and medals anymore from when I was on the swim team, but I have every memory of every stage experience I ever did.
...When you're not the lead and you just get to live dance on that stage ... it's not stressful and it's fun. Afterwards, when you meet your audience, they feel like you were the most magical thing.Ronda Brinkman
I didn't join the company until I was 16, so I was older, and my very first full-length storybook ballet was Sleeping Beauty. It was at UIS, I was 16 years old, and I was a page. The pages in Sleeping Beauty, do not do a whole lot. I carried a flag, I wore a tunic, and a Doughboy hat, and I remember I had to pull my bangs back under my hat, which was devastating. When you're 16 and you have bangs, you expect to be everywhere with your bangs. No, you had to shove those under your hat. I remember thinking, "I'm never going to get the opportunity to have a tutu and a tiara and be the fairy." In that moment, I remember thinking, "Well, I've got really pretty feet, so I might just be a page, but when I do my step brush hop, I'm gonna point my toes really, really hard, and I'm gonna make somebody notice that." I don't know if anybody noticed or not, but I remember feeling that.
As a teacher, that's the kind of thing I try to get through to my students. It's not always about having the big part. It's about every part coming together to make an entire show. Someday you will be the lilac fairy or the princess. Believe me, I've had plenty of stage experience with the tutu and the tiara. Sometimes it's those other parts, when you're not the lead and you just get to live dance on that stage for the fact of doing it, and it's not stressful and it's fun. Afterwards, when you meet your audience, they feel like you were the most magical thing. Not everybody understands that, but when you experience that, you get it.
Craig McFarland:
Anna, I love that you said you get to inspire the next generation of dancers. I want you to talk to parents who might have younger children or children that haven't been exposed to dance. Why do you think that they should bring their kiddos to your show this upcoming weekend?
Anna Lieberman:
Experiencing art forms from a young age is good for little kids, because it not only lets them like see things that they might like to do when they're older, but it also can be inspirational, it inspires creativity.
Craig McFarland:
Cambrie, what's your advice for younger people who want to get involved in dance? What would you have them do?
Cambrie Easley:
Follow what you want to do. In dance, you don't always get everything that you're hoping for, and sticking to it, really does get you somewhere. Always having that mindset of hard work will pay off.
Craig McFarland:
Talk to me about your cast mates in the show, in the company, about some of the experiences in rehearsals leading up to Sleeping Beauty.
Cambrie Easley:
I've been dancing with my friend Jordan, who is a fairy in Sleeping Beauty, since we were really young. We were eight or nine when we were in the first class together, and we've been around each other, and we were in the same friend groups. We started to get closer around a couple years ago when we were both in the company. She is a hard worker, and she's shy, but is a very beautiful dancer. I'm excited to see how she portrays her role, because she looks so beautiful when she does it.
Craig McFarland:
Anna, is there anybody in the company that you're really excited to stay share the stage with?
Anna Lieberman:
One of my best friends? Elena, is someone I've known since kindergarten. We've been friends for many years, and we've been dancing together since we were in elementary school. We've grown up together through school and through dance. I love to see how far we've come together, and we both have good roles in this show.
Craig McFarland:
Ronda, share the details for where Sleeping Beauty is taking place, tickets, and times.
Ronda Brinkman:
Sleeping Beauty will be Feb. 28 and March 1, both 2 p.m. matinee performances at the Legacy Theatre in Springfield. The show is about an hour and a half with the intermission, so it's a nice short show. As far as ballets go, the original Sleeping Beauty ballet was around four hours long in 1890 when it was originally choreographed. That seems so long for people to sit in their chairs. Julie Ratz, our artistic director, has edited the important parts down. It makes it easier for our younger audiences to sit through a show like this. Go to CopperCoinBallet.org for tickets.
Craig McFarland:
I strongly suggest that people go out and support these two young ladies and the rest of the Copper Coin Ballet Company in Sleeping Beauty. Thank you for coming in today and chatting with me.
Anna, Cambrie, & Ronda:
Thank you. Thanks, Craig. Thank you.
