Poetry transforms into dance in Ballet Co.Laboratory's production of "Emily Dickinson: The Untold Verse."

Choreographer Genevieve Waterbury creates an arc of Dickinson's life illuminated through her poetry, as well as one letter fragment. We see Dickinson as a child (portrayed by Grace Lennon) playing in the woods and then developing her voice as an artist. Later, as an adult (danced by Rosa Prigan), we see her feelings growing for her friend Susan (Zoé Henrot). The piece also explores Dickinson's world views and emotions as expressed in her poetry.

The three-day production opened Friday at the company's theater in St. Paul and wraps with a matinee Sunday.

Death figures prominently in the show, appearing three times in the work — twice portrayed by a group of winged dancers, and once in a wistful performance by Kit Ornelas.

The work is set to a recording of the piano composition "Das Jahr" (The Year") by German composer Fanny Mendelssohn, another 19th-century woman whose genius was under-appreciated in her lifetime. Like Dickinson's poetry, Mendelssohn's music has a reflective tone that's deceptive, with tension, passion and deep emotion brimming just beneath its surface.

A cast of characters — some animal, some human and some metaphysical — populate the scenes. At times the characters are taken directly from a particular poem and used in its interpretation, and at other times, Ballet Co.Lab borrows characters from one poem to use in a different one.

The marvelous Sage Engle-Laird plays Wounded Deer, a main figure in Dickinson's poem that begins with the line, "A wounded deer — leaps highest —." Engle-Laird's Wounded Deer also figures in "I Dwell in Possibility," about the transformative power of poetry. The original poem doesn't mention a deer, but the new interpretation works, and Engle-Laird's bounding leaps catch the sense of Dickson's meaning.

For "There's a Certain Slant of Light," Sean Scantlebury plays Oak Tree, casting moody shadows in the snow, much like Dickinson's melancholic poem. Scantlebury's movements are slow and deliberate in the beginning of the dance — almost like he is practicing tai chi. Later, his stoicism quickens as the Emily character joins Oak Tree in his expansive, spiritual movement.

There's fine dancing amid the highlighted character parts — Sabriyya Dean enchants as the Bumblebee, and Lennon makes a marvelous rose flower. There were a couple of stumbles in group scenes on opening night, but overall, some of Waterbury's best choreography comes out in the larger ensemble pieces, especially the use of water as a metaphor in "I Can Wade Grief."

One indicator of a great work of art is how often and how well it inspires others. In Ballet Co.Lab's "Untold Verse," Dickinson's poetry makes an intriguing framework for a new contemporary ballet.

'Emily Dickinson: The Untold Verse'

When: 2 & 7 p.m. Sat., 2 p.m. Sun.

Where: Ballet Co.Laboratory Studio Theatre, 276 E. Lafayette Frontage Rd., St. Paul

Tickets: $40, balletcolaboratory.org