Carol Norris
Enquirer contributor

Dayton Ballet has embarked on Vision 20/20, a plan to produce 10 to 15 new full-length American ballets in the next 25 years. The venture began this weekend in Dayton's glorious new Schuster Performing Arts Center with America's Robin Hood, an all-American telling of the legendary English outlaw.

In the ballet, Robin Hood becomes Robin Hode; Maid Marian is Mary Madden and so on down the list of familiar Robin Hood characters. It's the 1700s, before the Revolutionary War, and Robin and friends are fighting British landowners. Their mission: to fight oppression.

Co-choreographers Gregory Robinson and Dermot Burke keep it light with dances that give it a Seven Brides for Seven Brothers feel, but without the gymnastics. It's folksy and charming, with costumes by Lowell A. Mathwich and scenic design by Holly Highfill supporting these qualities.

Composer Steven Winteregg, a graduate of University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, has created a score that places the action squarely in early-America and matches the ballet's charm note for step. His music has been produced for tape by Bill Sellers.

Kirk Henning presents a Robin as handsome and virile as you'd expect - a perfect balance to Anne Sidney Davenport's softly feminine Mary. She dances with endearing sweetness. Their Act I pas de deux is a lesson in perfect partnering - loving and trusting; she's totally lost in the moment and whisks you along with her.

The supporting cast is strong - Shannon Smith as Will Scarlett and Emily Gotschall as Grace O'Brien delight as the main characters' best friends; Sasha Janes is a boisterous John Little (Little John - get it?); Paul Porcino is the besotted Parson Tuckerton and Alberto Munoz Ezparza is a threatening Mohawk Chief. As Robin's nemesis, Cory Gram and Anna Kirker are deliciously wicked.

Dayton Ballet is a small company, with only 20 dancers listed in the program. They show excellent training - clean lines, soft landings out of big jumps for the men, easy turns and a honeyed manner from the women that connects with the audience.

It's been around for 64 years making it one of the oldest professional dance companies in the U.S. The plan for new ballets will keep it young for a long time.