Intuitive horseman Kevin Crane will bring Star the Dancing Horse to the stage of the Waterville Opera House to perform in the Waterville Creates! Variety! show Oct. 19. Reportedly not since 1937 has a horse graced the floorboards of the Opera House, a time when western heroes such as Tom Mix were galloping out of silent movies across the stage and into talkies.

The key to Star’s dancing skills lies in the training received from Crane, a “natural horseman” who runs the Crane Horse Farm in Albion and travels the country giving clinics centered around communication between horse and handler. What sort of dancing Star indulges in, whether western swing, two-step or an elegant dressage, may well depend on how well Crane gets his message across.