Senior dancer Lucy Balfour plays the Cat and various roles in the new family-friendly production of Pinocchio and is in one of five couples for the classical ballet showpiece Verdi Variations.
Miss Balfour said the company's Pinocchio was based on the original fairytale and was, "quite dark, but there's a lot of light and beauty which shines within it.
"With what New Zealand's gone through with the earthquake, this is when art is really important so people can have a wee bit of escapism and just know that things are going to be OK."
The company was due to perform in the Isaac Theatre Royal, in Christchurch, on March 15 but that show had to be bypassed due to damage to the Gloucester St venue.
"It felt like we were kind of deserting it, but I have a feeling that the company might go back at the end of this tour if we can find somewhere to perform, so that would be really cool if we could," Miss Balfour said.
Picks of the Week
TODAY
5pm: Young Queenstown singer-songwriter-guitarist Sarah Foley entertains at Dux de Lux. Free.
7pm: Remarkable Jazz, featuring Trevor Tattersfield on trumpet and flugel horn, Les Richardson on keyboard and Dale Gold on string bass, play live in the Friday Jazz Club in Les Alpes. Free.
10pm: Sunshine Sound System, with DJs Downtown Brown and Turbohag, deliver funk, soul, hip-hop and junglism in Subculture. Free entry before midnight, $5 afterwards.
TOMORROW
8pm: Introducing the Sheralees, an original comedy-drama-musical is staged in the Arrowtown Athenaeum Hall for the final night. Tickets are available from World Travellers in Queenstown, the Lakes District Museum, in Arrowtown, and on the doors, which open at 7.30pm. Tickets cost $30 plus booking fee.
9pm: Upbeat South American four-piece Inside Out play originals and covers at Dux de Lux. Free.
10pm: Christchurch pop punk quartet Alison Lake rock Winnie's Gourmet Pizza Bar in support of the Red Cross Canterbury earthquake appeal. Free.
THURSDAY
7.30pm: Comediennes Pinky Agnew, Geraldine Brophy and Lyndee-Jane Rutherford skewer politics in this election year with their "voices of sensible womanhood", as Party Girls, in the Arrowtown Athenaeum Hall. Tickets are $62.50 plus booking fee and are available from the Queenstown Events Centre, Ticket Direct and on the door, which opens from 7pm.
10pm: Experimental psychedelic Auckland band An Emerald City joins forces with fellow indie rockers the Checks at Revolver. Tickets $22 from Quest, or online from Under the Radar.
