Submitted Photo Some of the cast members of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream & Overture of the Fairies” are shown at the Rinat Mouzafarov Institute of Dance and Ballet Theater in this photo by Ron Rouse. They are preparing for their spring production this weekend.

A Minot native who has performed ballet around the country will be joining Rinat Mouzafarov’s Institute of Dance and Ballet Theater in its spring production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream & Overture of the Fairies” this weekend.

Brianna Hagar Mesa, a former student of Mouzafarov, and her husband, Jared Mesa, both with the Western Arkansas Ballet in Fort Smith, will perform contemporary and classical dance, and Jared Mesa also will play the role of the prince, Oberon, in “Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

Mouzafarov said he has developed new choreography for this year’s show, which will be the first performance for his students since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The pandemic also caused a temporary hiatus in classes. Mouzafarov said he began working individually with dancers again last year and has been able to transition to full classes in preparation for the upcoming production.

More than 70 male and female students, ranging in age from 3 to adult, will be dancing in the three-act production Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. in Ann Nicole Nelson Hall on the Minot State University campus.

Tickets are $15 and will be available at the door or can be reserved by calling the studio at 837-0239.

“Students are working very hard and all are quality dancers,” Mouzafarov said. The show also will feature the spectacular costuming for which the studio and costume mistress Tonya Lewis are known. Katharyn Burgardt assisted in the creation of some of the unique costumes. The institute is bringing in special scenery drops for the production.

Hagar is ballet mistress and pointe and modern dance instructor at Western Arkansas Ballet. Mesa is associate artistic director with Western Arkansas Ballet, having been with the dance school for six years.

Hagar began her ballet training at age 10 under Mouzafarov’s instruction, graduating from the program in 2008. She attended summer programs at The Kirov Ballet Academy and The Pilobolus Institute. She graduated from The Boston Conservatory with a bachelor’s degree in dance pedagogy and performance.

She formerly danced with Ballet Quad Cities in Illinois and Ruidoso Dance Ensemble in New Mexico. At Western Arkansas Ballet, she developed the modern dance program to four levels for ages 9 to 18. During the summers, she works for Burklyn Ballet Theatre in Vermont, where she teaches ballet and pointe and has set many classical ballets. She has performed the lead roles in classical ballets across the country.

A native of Yuma, Arizona, Mesa began his formal dance training at the age of 17 in Yuma and joined Yuma Ballet Theatre as a member in 2000. He studied on scholarship and danced at Burklyn Ballet Theatre for 10 summers, dancing several lead roles.

He has been on faculty with Burklyn for 10 years. He also has worked with the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders and singer and actress Sheryl Crow. He has danced with Ballet Quad Cities and with Ruidoso Dance Ensemble, where he formerly served as ballet master. He also was artistic director for Yuma Ballet Theatre and mentor and choreographic adviser to student choreographers at Burklyn. He has done guest work in the United States and England.

He has received awards for his choreography at Burklyn Ballet Theatre, where he has been choreographing since 2005. He also has choreographed commissioned works for companies in Montana, Connecticut and Arizona. Both Hagar and Mesa have choreography chosen to be performed at this year’s Regional Dance America Festival.

The production in Minot also will feature Mouzafarov’s graduating senior dancers Heili Burgardt, who will perform the role of the queen, Titania, in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and Eva Bloom and Madalyn Meagher, who will perform in the “Overture of the Fairies.”