Matthew Bourne's The Red Shoes
Anna Garratt at The Hippodrome
Well, I'm not sure what Timothée Chalamet was on about because the opening night of Matthew Bourne's 'The Red Shoes' ballet at the Birmingham Hippodrome was absolutely packed on opening night, 17th March. Based on a mix of the Hans Christian Anderson fairytale and the 1948 movie of the same name, this production combined beautiful costumes, clever staging, wonderful choreography and incredible dancing – this amazing show was given a well deserved standing ovation.
The costumes were a work of art, transporting you to the ballet within the ballet, every scene contained beautiful costumes that both allowed each dancer to be individual but also worked together cohesively to bring you into the scene. The staging was equally immersive. The changes in backdrop colour to divide you from the overall ballet into the production within were clever, whilst not being too obvious. The performers shadows were also used in such a way to give some of the scene's a creepy quality that tied well into the fairytale elements of the story.
The choreography was extremely expressive, utilising the dancers' acting talents to full effect to move the story along in a way that was easy to follow – something I, as a not very experienced ballet goer, really appreciated. The romantic movements were very beautiful, and danced exceptionally, leaving the audience in silence throughout.
The quality of the dancing was fantastic, so much so that I found myself focusing on each and every performer throughout the 2 hour show. The beach scene was a particular favourite, how they managed to dance and keep control of giant beach balls without an incident I do not know! The music was perfectly dreamy, really transporting you into the world Matthew Bourne created, switching effortlessly between romantic scenes and fraught emotional scenes smoothly.
Overall, a truly magical performance I would highly recommend seeing!
Matthew Bourne's The Red Shoes runs at the Hippodrome until Saturday 21st with tickets here.
