Southampton authors brings classical music to children

Southampton author Jean Mahoney’s new book literally sets the stage for children to enter a fantasy world of humans trapped in the bodies of swans, evil sorcerers, and the music of Peter Tchaikovsky.

The book, “Swan Lake: Ballet Theatre,” opens into a theater and comes with a number of sets and backdrops to slide behind it, in order to bring to life the story of “Swan Lake” as a vivid performance, explained Ms. Mahoney, who lives on North Main Street in Southampton with her husband, Don.

“I wanted the book to be as interactive as possible,” Ms. Mahoney said, adding that the book comes with paper dolls designed by her partner, Viola Ann Seddon.

A CD of Tchaikovsky’s music accompanies the paper-and-cardboard theater, and is the vehicle through which the fairy tale is brought to life, Ms. Mahoney said. Tchaikovsky’s music, in fact, was Ms. Mahoney’s inspiration for writing the book.

“This was more about my interest in classical music than in ballet,” said Ms. Mahoney, adding that she lived in Vienna, Austria, for a number of years with her husband, Don.

While in Vienna, Ms. Mahoney attended the opera and ballet with Prentiss Dunn, a part-time Southampton resident who helped her understand and more deeply appreciate classical music.

Mr. Dunn, in fact, helped write some of the musical arrangements that are in the book, Ms. Mahoney said. The book also cues readers to tracks of the CD, and explains how the music helps illustrate the plot of the fairy tale.

For example, when Prince Siegfried meets Odette, a woman trapped in a swan’s body, a “sad, lonely oboe” provides the musical voice of Odette, the text explains.

“I always thought it would be nice to introduce kids to classical music with a mini theatre,” Ms. Mahoney said. “It gets their imagination fired.”

“Swan Lake,” a Russian folktale with some German influences, tells the story of Odette, a woman cursed by a sorcerer named Rothbart and trapped in a swan’s body. She is almost rescued by Prince Siegfried, but another of Rothbart’s tricks leads both to a tragic ending, Ms. Mahoney explained.

“Swan Lake: Ballet Theatre” is the third “Ballet Theatre” book by Ms. Mahoney, who also created “The Nutcracker: Ballet Theatre” and “The Sleeping Beauty: Ballet Theatre.”

“I picked those three because Tchaikovsky’s music is really gorgeous and is easy for a child to listen to and like,” Ms. Mahoney said. “A lot of kids have heard the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ waltz ... and ‘Swan Lake’ is the most famous ballet of them all, so it’s a nice progression.”

She noted that the music of “The Nutcracker” is also very familiar to the general public, and said that children can connect each dance—such as “Coffee, the Arabian Dance—to Tchaikovsky’s music.

“The Nutcracker: Ballet Theatre” was published in 2004; “The Sleeping Beauty: Ballet Theatre” was published in 2007. Candlewick Press, located in Somerville, Massachusetts, published all of the “Ballet Theatre” series, Ms. Mahoney said, adding that she is working on ideas for other titles.

To further engage readers in the tale of “Swan Lake,” Ms. Mahoney asks questions throughout the book. For example, she asks “How could he leave her and her maidens in this mournful place?” when Prince Siegfried first comes across Odette and the flock of swans in the forest, and then leaves them to return to his castle.

A number of paper dolls, each a character in the fairy tale, come with the book, created from photographs of actual dolls made by Ms. Mahoney’s London-based partner, Ms. Seddon.

The dolls Ms. Seddon makes are 6 to 7 inches tall, but once photographed and mounted on clear plastic sticks, they are about 4 inches tall, Ms. Mahoney said. She noted that the dolls are double-sided so that they can twirl and move.

“She makes the dolls as I develop the book,” Ms. Mahoney said.

Ms. Seddon also makes the sets that can be inserted behind the book, Ms. Mahoney said. Some of the sets are watercolor paintings, others are actual fabric curtains that have been photographed, she explained.

Ms. Mahoney and Ms. Seddon first met in Tokyo, Japan, where Ms. Mahoney was working on a design book. The two women wanted to write a children’s book at the time, but were unable to do so until they started to collaborate on the “Ballet Theatre” series nearly 20 years later.

“Swan Lake: Ballet Theatre” is available at BookHampton, Amazon.com, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and at the gift shop at Lincoln Center in New York.