Ballet Western Reserve will have far more than seven dwarfs on stage for its spring gala.

Students from the Youngstown ballet company will present “Snow White and the Dancing Dwarfs” on Saturday at DeYor Performing Arts Center.

“In recent years, we’ve been going the storybook ballet route,” said Daniell Perrotta, BWR executive and artistic director. “It’s family friendly, you can bring your kids to it. You’ll recognize the music and the story. I don’t think BWR has done ‘Snow White’ before, so we wanted to do something that we hadn’t done. And with the movie coming out (earlier this year), that was a plus.

“And we have two graduating seniors (Hannah Gettemy and Paige Nevels) that could fill those Snow White and Evil Queen roles really well. So we thought it just made sense.”

The production will include some of the songs from the 1937 animated feature by Walt Disney Studios, but Perrotta didn’t limit herself to that film.

“Of course, we have to put our own spin on things,” she said. “We made it our version of the story. It’s still recognizable. The audience is going to know the story, but a lot of the music choices were some standard classical pieces that we used for our dwarfs to kind of showcase their personalities. What we did with our younger classes, each class represents a dwarf. So we have 10 Grumpys, we have 12 Sleepys, and we chose music to go with each dwarf’s personality to show the character. So it’s still the basic Snow White story. We just kind of threw in our own sort of spin on certain things.”

The production will include about 100 dancers, from its tiny Mommy and Me ballerinas to students for its pre-professional company. Following the ballet, there will be performances by students from other dance disciplines, such as modern and tap.

Perrotta described it as a hybrid of a dance recital and a ballet production.

“They’re going to have this culminating show that lets them show what they’ve learned throughout the year, throughout the semester,” she said. “And it’s also a performance for the public. It’s a way for our company dancers to showcase their abilities again.

While BWR uses Powers Auditorium for its holiday production of “The Nutcracker,” the spring performance will be in DeYor Performing Arts Center’s Ford Family Recital Hall.

“We actually love working there,” Perrotta said. “It’s great. It seats 600 so it’s a great performance space for this kind of show that’s not going to sell, 1,700 (like ‘Nutcracker’). It’s a nice, more intimate way to see the kids. It’s a great size stage for the space. It has a great depth, and it really doesn’t limit us too much. We don’t have the big lighting and all the props and things we would have for ‘Nutcracker,’ but it does serve us well.”

If you go …

WHAT: Ballet Western Reserve Spring Gala — “Snow White and the Dancing Dwarfs”

WHEN: 3 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Ford Family Recital Hall, DeYor Performing Arts Center, 260 W. Federal St., Youngstown

HOW MUCH: Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for senior citizens and $15 for children ages 11 and younger and are available at the DeYor box office, online at. experienceyourarts.org and by calling 330-259-9651.