When I went to collect my young companion who would accompany me to this production at Richmond Theatre, she was dressed all in pink – with a very bouncy net skirt – and wore a tiara and pink pearls very proudly.
Yes, we generated lots of smiles as we took the train to Richmond but once there we felt quite at home as we were surrounded with princesses – many in pink but some in blue and gold and I even spied one dressed as a mermaid. We were in good company. Whilst some were around seven – like my young friend – there were quite a few who were considerably younger.
After a quick survey of the merchandise (tees £10, sweats £15, dolls £6 and pointy pink fluffy things that lit up) we made our way to the upper circle bar where we were encouraged to colour in Cinderellas (rags on one side, ball gown on the other) to make our own stick puppet. I have to say that bearing in mind there were three productions this Saturday afternoon, the staff were amazingly kind, patient and jolly.
Finally in our seats and everyone around us was very excited. So were the little girls. Then the curtain went up and we watched as Cinderella hid behind a chair (“behind you”) when the narrator/pastry chef came on stage. The narrator bought us up to speed on the story so far and then the naughty sisters (there is no way that these girls were ugly) arrived with the mean step-mum who threw out the beggar woman who Cinders had let sit by the fire.
Helpfully, the narrator explained when dance solos were to take place and the audience clapped after each performance. Just like at grown up ballet. Although the later audience participation was a pantomime special. The ball was announced and there was an audible gasp when the beggar woman turned out to be the Fairy Godmother – wearing a beautiful ocean colours softly sparkling dress.
Then the narrator explained the four seasons dance – and Cinderella getting her gifts for her outfit (bit of a departure from the pumpkin and mice angle, but my companion didn’t seem to mind). In fact, she later declared that the two women and men who danced the seasons was her favourite bit. Another, louder gasp as Cinderella emerged in her white tutu.
Just 30 minutes of dancing and we were into our interval. The excited chatter level was quite high at this stage so we took some air outside and made the most of the Bank Holiday sunshine. The second part included the dances at the ball (loved the corps de ballet in midnight blue) – the naughty sisters were brilliant as they pretended to dance badly, fall over, hiccup and even show their knickers. Squeals of laughter. There were solos and duets from the prince (my companion was delighted that he was black – but sad that he was the only black dancer) – and the major lifts generated much approval from the young audience. The finale had a shower of glittery bits falling over Cinderella and her prince.
Now I’m not qualified to comment on the quality of the ballet, but it looked pretty authentic to me. I liked that the narrator and the larger-than-life gestures of the dancers helped the youngsters keep up with what was going on. But also that there was no compromise on the quality of the dancing. And an hour and a half was probably enough for youngsters who typically have the attention span of a gnat. One young lady – dressed in ballet blues – had spent a little time during the second half showing me her ballet moves which were made so much more dramatic when her shoes lit up.
My young friend – and numerous other little girls who took the same journey home – charmed us with their ballet moves on the station while we waited for our trains. The Leicester rugby funs looked a little surprised. It was a lovely introduction to ballet and no doubt it has inspired a new generation of dancers.
My First Cinderella is on at Richmond tomorrow http://www.atgtickets.com/shows/english-national-ballets-my-first-cinderella/richmond-theatre/#overview_tab
Future Richmond productions that might appeal to other youngsters include “The Gruffalo’s Child” (July 3rd - 7th) and “Grandpa in my pocket” (11th – 15th September).
