Ballet Jorgen's 'Anne of Green Gables' production takes the stage in the Maritimes

Ballet Jorgen has pirouetted the pride of Prince Edward Island through the Maritimes as they trade Anne of Green Gables’ plain clothes for ballet slippers.

Momoka Matsui, who will play role of Anne Shirley during a show in Fredericton this week, grew up with the story.

"Actually, I read the books when I was like 13 to 14 back home, I'm from Japan, it's really big in Japan too, I had this idea of who Anne Shirley is," Matsui said.

"It's actually my mom who is a big fan of Anne," she said.

After three years of working to get the rights of 'Anne of Green Gables' and bringing the production to life, it was put on hold due to the pandemic.

"And then of course it was supposed to tour all across Canada, and finish back up here in Atlantic Canada in the spring of 2020," said Bengt Jorgen, the artistic director for Ballet Jorgen.

"So, it's been a two-year wait to bring it back out here and bring Anne back home."

Capturing Anne's loquacious charm through dance was easy.

"It was really very simple to translate that particular character to the stage, so Anne was not a problem. It was more challenging with some of the other characters, like Matthew and Marilla," Jorgen said.

The company is eager to impress Anne aficionados and is hoping their version doesn't disappoint.

"We've tried to stay really true to the book," Jorgen said. "Meaning, if you come and see the story on stage, we don't want people to go, 'Well that wasn't quite like the book,' We want people to be like, 'Wow, that was like I saw the book in front of me.' So, it took a lot of to get there."

For Matsui, it was special to take the show to the island last week.

"Especially East Coast, everybody loves the story, everybody enjoyed the whole ballet," Matsui said.

'Anne of Green Gables - The Ballet' is on stage at The Playhouse in Fredericton May 31, and will be back in Halifax June 8 and 9, before touring across the country in the summer and fall.

For Halifax's performances, the role of Anne Shirley will be played by Hannah Mae Cruddas from Dartmouth, N.S.