“It’s a dream come true,” Mia Klinger, director of Ballet Excel Ohio, a Knight arts grantee, said recently during a rehearsal of her company’s role in an upcoming production of “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The event is being presented by the Akron Symphony Orchestra, also a Knight Arts grantee and the sponsor for this event.

ASO has assembled quite a cast of organizations: the symphony itself under the direction of maestro Christopher Wilkins to play Felix Mendelssohn’s famous score; the Summit Children’s Choir to sing the astounding finale; the ASO Shakespeare Players under the direction of Craig Joseph; and, the youthful and energetic dancers of Ballet Excel Ohio (formerly the Cuyhahoga Valley Youth Ballet).

It’ll be a full-blown presentation, with the dancers having two parts during the Scherzo and the Finale sections of the music.

Klinger called in choreographer Erich Yetter to create the sections for the dancers. Yetter has all the appropriate credentials for what needs to be done. For one thing, he had created a full-length story ballet of “Midsummer Night’s Dream” for the Peoria Ballet, where he once worked. Yetter assured that he is not simply recreating that version with the one being asked for here. It’s all different, he noted.

Erich Yetter, choreographer. Photo from www.klingerdance.com

One thing the two Yetter versions do have in common is that the choroegrapher likes things Balanchine (as in George Balanchine of the New York City Ballet). Ballet Excel Ohio has years of history of close relations with that organization. Indeed Mia Klinger appeared in Balanchine’s version of the story, and even had the dance master at one of her rehearsals, she said.

Klinger sees the Balanchine influence in Yetter’s approach to dance, an insight Yetter acknowledges wholeheartedly. “Balanchine did it all,” Yetter cited, so why not “learn and take from the master.”

There are some obvious nods to Balanchine, like the kind of dubbing of the dancers as fairies in the final scene, and the firefly lighting effect that will be an awesome part of this production.

Most things, though, are Yetter. He designed the costumes to include the headdresses and wings of the dancers made to look like fairies in Oberon’s enchanted kingdom. The older dancers will be in blue/purple outfits with larger gossamer wings, while the younger ones will be in a dusty pink color with their hair long and flowing.

Yetter commented that the Mendelssohn work and the character of the fairies is perfect for dancers. They look “supernatural,” he commented, “like they were made for the role.” That’s how it seemed in rehearsal. Even with everyone not in costume and the actors not present, as well as a lack of scenery, the impact of leaping, jumping, running and whirling dancers was palpable. He plays to and punctuates the music with dance moves – and in the finale, it is quite dramatic.

Yetter has quite a gift for this kind of choreography, especially with younger dancers with whom he has worked. That’s a quality not lost on Klinger. She is quite pleased with the result, as will be audience members who attend the event. In one scene, when the dancers are formed in circles paying homage to the king and queen of the fairy world (Oberon and Titania), it didn’t matter that the actors weren’t there to sense just how powerful the scene will be when fully staged with them.

“Midsummer Night’s Dream” will be presented one night only at 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 8 in E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall, 198 Hill St., Akron; 330-972-7570; www.ejthomashall.com. Tickets are $25-$55.