Hooked on ballet.

Byline: Paul Denison The Register-Guard

James Barrie stopped growing when he was just 5-feet-not-at-all tall, but his career soared to dizzying heights when he wrote a book about a boy who would not grow up. One hundred years later, Peter Pan is still flying high.

And this weekend, four pixie-dusted Eugene Ballet dancers will get to do the same.

``We've never ever flown,'' Artistic Director Toni Pimble says. ``We're getting our wings!''

Peter and the three Darling children will fly, but Tinkerbell will not, in "Peter Pan, the Ballet," to be presented next Saturday and Sunday in Silva Concert Hall at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts.

Eugene Ballet dancers took intensive training before going airborne, rehearsing three to four hours a day for four days with technicians from ZFX in Las Vegas, who have had the Peter Pan flying business wired since the days of Mary Martin.

You could call this a crash course, but that's probably not a good idea.

Everyone knows you need happy, positive thoughts to lift you off the ground. Plus some pixie dust.

Pimble says that guest choreographer Bruce Steivel, who created this "Peter Pan" for Nevada Ballet Theatre, "has done a wonderful job of integrating the dancing with the flying, so they do feel very seamless."

Hyuk-Ku Kwon will play Peter, with Phyllis Rothwell as Wendy, Jon Drake as John and Juan Carlos Amy-Cordero as Michael. Jennifer Martin will be Tinkerbell, who first appears as floating light.

On the dark side, Frank Affrunti will play Captain Hook, and Daniel Alsedek will be his special friend, Mr. Crocodile.

The music was composed by Thomas Semanski, who also scored the ballets "Dracula" and "Beauty and the Beast."

``It's electronic,'' Pimble says, ``written expressly for `Peter Pan,' and it has some sound effects, too.'' Among these are a barking dog, a big splash (think walking the plank), a ticking clockodile.

The action plays out on a set designed to look like storybook pictures, including the Darling children's nursery and the large window through which Peter arrives looking for his lost shadow; a large chest of drawers from which Tinkerbell emerges; the Lost Boys' treehouse; and the stern quarters of Captain Hook's pirate ship, where the children are lashed to a mast.

The show is quite short, Pimble says, running about an hour and 40 minutes including the intermission.

The cast also includes Amy Marialke and Diego Castro as Mrs. and Mr. Darling, Dominique Del Grosso as the maid, Dan Alsedek as their dog Nana, Hyoung-Il Joung as Smeed and Aline Schurger as Tiger Lily.

Not to mention three pirates, five lost boys, 16 lost children, 10 Indians and assorted mermaids and fish (angel, gold, star and tiger).

Students from the Eugene School of Ballet play lost boys and mermaids.

Pimble, who only recently read the book of "Peter Pan" for the first time, found it "much more involved" than the play, with "lots of side stories."

She says choreographer Steivel has "pretty much stuck with the play," concentrating on the action and keeping the ballet at a length suitable for younger children.

"This is a great show for kids who are 5, 6, 7 and 8," Pimble says. "It's fun for the kids and fun for the parents, too; definitely a family ballet."

For the Saturday matinee, made possible by a grant from the Haugland Foundation, nearly 1,000 tickets will be given away to social service agencies and their clients.

DANCE PREVIEW

Peter Pan, the Ballet

What: A Eugene Ballet production, choreographed by Bruce Steivel

When: 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 20

Where: Hult Center, Seventh Avenue and Willamette Street

Tickets: $12 to $42, 682-5000 or www.eugeneballet.org)

CAPTION(S):

Frank Affrunti sinks his teeth into the role of Captain Hook in Eugene Ballet's production of ``Peter Pan, the Ballet.'' The ballet will be danced in three performances next Saturday and Sunday at the Hult Center.