Northern Ballet's first foray into children's ballets began in 2012 with the creation of Ugly Duckling, which was so successful that it was filmed and shown on CBeebies TV. Choreographed by former company dancers Dreda Blow and Sebastian Loe, with the concept of turning fairy stories into 45 minutes of charming dance narrative to tour to smaller venues, its recipe has since been repeated for a further 7 popular productions in this genre, providing a fantastic introduction to ballet and the theatre for little ones and parents alike.
Buxton Opera House at 4pm on a Wednesday afternoon was awash with wide-eyed toddlers, staring in awe at its bijou cream and gold auditorium. "We are so lucky to have this on our doorstep", I overheard one mother say as she dangled her daughter over the pit to gawp at the musicians warming up. There was an audible 'ooooo' as the lights went down and we were politely requested to sit as still and quietly as possible so that the animals wouldn't know we were there, and then the story commenced with Mother Duck waiting for her eggs to hatch.
The piece uses 6 dancers in a variety of roles with the exception of 'Ugly' herself, danced on this occasion by the diminutive wide-eyed Holly Slater. She captivated the audience from her first appearance as a scrawny grey feathered chick to her final transformation to full 'swandom', with lovely arabesque lines and neat footwork to compliment her expressive characterisation. Her journey from unwanted sibling to discovering her true identity charted a series of encounters where she never quite fitted in, and each little dejected solo elicited a couple of spontaneous, "Aww she's sad", comments from those around me. There were also plenty of comedic touches - I especially enjoyed the pond's lifeguard, who refuses to let Ugly swim: "Ducks Only!" raising his loudhailer to his mouth and hearing it emit a series of quacked instructions.
Blow and Loe must be applauded for some splendid animal choreography and likewise Julie Anderson for her costume design and realisation. Frogs Michael Maple and Itsuki Amemiya hopped and jumped with notable ballon, with Autumn Williams and Sophia Kato snooty, slinky and believably feline as the two black cats. Maple also made a splendidly suave and wily fox, with plenty of swagger and excellent tail management for his pirouettes. Perhaps some of the action could have been slowed and accentuated a little more for the benefit of the youngsters, or the fox's cutlery a little larger for the full humour of his endeavours to eat the Duckling for supper to be appreciated.
The appearance of Mother Swan in white tutu and sparkling tiara was an apposite introduction to the ethereal beauty of the classical Swan Lake and Mary Riley exuded grace and grandeur in this role. She skilfully spaced her long limbs and split jetés around the cosy confines of set and stage and as reunited mother and daughter left the shores of the lake together I could vouch that a future generation of ballet lovers had been born.
