Elton John goes to the dance with Alberta Ballet

Twenty toned and lithe dancers shook their hips in exaggerated movements, pounding Dodger blue baseball bats into the ballet studio floor in time to the staccato beats of Elton John's "Bennie and the Jets." "You're giving me hips, but you're giving me ballet hips. I want jazz hips," said the energetic choreographer, orchestrating his troupe. "Make a caricature out of it. . . . How much chin can you give me? It's gotta be tight -- think Rockettes, almost. Tight, tight, tight!

By Shauna Snow-Capparelli

February 21, 2010