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Ballet Theatre UK Snow Queen

hfbrew
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hfbrew

hfbrew

Posted
Posted

Saw this in Tewkesbury last night and really enjoyed it.

I last saw this production in 2011 and thought it was good then but was slow in places, whereas last night was slick and well danced and acted by all the dancers.

Sarah Mortimer was wonderful as Gerda and Claire Corruble Cabot was a magnificent Snow Queen. I also enjoyed excellent comic timing from David Brewer and Charlotte Eades but then I would!

 

Full tour dates are on Ballet Theatre UK website.

 

But one of my reasons for posting is that there are lovely programs AND cast lists! So I can retire from posting such information on Ballet.co!

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Anna C

Anna C

Posted
Posted

Saw this in Tewkesbury last night and really enjoyed it.

I last saw this production in 2011 and thought it was good then but was slow in places, whereas last night was slick and well danced and acted by all the dancers.

Sarah Mortimer was wonderful as Gerda and Claire Corruble Cabot was a magnificent Snow Queen. I also enjoyed excellent comic timing from David Brewer and Charlotte Eades but then I would!

Full tour dates are on Ballet Theatre UK website.

But one of my reasons for posting is that there are lovely programs AND cast lists! So I can retire from posting such information on Ballet.co!

Excellent! I'm so glad they have cast lists this season. :-)

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2dancersmum

2dancersmum

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Gutted I missed this in Tewkesbury but it completely slipped my mind and then I could not get tickets - unless I wanted front row which I do not like for this theatre.  Good news for the company though if they are getting good audiences.

hfbrew

hfbrew

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Gutted I missed this in Tewkesbury but it completely slipped my mind and then I could not get tickets - unless I wanted front row which I do not like for this theatre.  Good news for the company though if they are getting good audiences.

They are in Worcester next Friday!

2dancersmum

2dancersmum

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Online Worcester was looking pretty much sold out too and unfortunately one of my DDs cannot do next Friday. I will check with the box office though as I have found that I've got tickets before in person that were showing as 'already sold' online.

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hfbrew

hfbrew

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Online Worcester was looking pretty much sold out too and unfortunately one of my DDs cannot do next Friday. I will check with the box office though as I have found that I've got tickets before in person that were showing as 'already sold' online.

That's a good idea as Worcester is one of the Theatres that sometimes only shows two rows available online making it look as if the rest is sold out when this absolutely isn't the case. It's always a good idea to check directly with any theatre! Not just to check on seat availability but also timings because sometimes they do change them.

Pas de Quatre

Pas de Quatre

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I saw this last week at the Layard Theatre at Canford School in Dorset and agree that it was a delightful production.  Although they were dancing in different roles, the outstanding performances were by the dancers hfbrew mentions above, with the addition of  Ines Ferreira who was a splendid Snow Queen.

 

The Souvenir programme has some beautiful photos and a typed sheet with the cast list for that performance was inserted.  However although it gave biographies for the production team, and general information about the company and school, there was nothing about the individual dancers which is disappointing.  The company's website hasn't been updated so you can't find out anything about dancers there either.

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Julie 2 Milner

Julie 2 Milner

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Sadly they don't seem to come to Tunbridge Wells any more. Which is a shame. We get less and less ballet now. In fact virtually none. We do get the Russian State Ballet and Opera House but the Nutcracker of theirs I went to was shockingly poor with dancers who seemed not to care. I always enjoyed the Ballet Theatre Uk performances.

hfbrew

hfbrew

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Sadly they don't seem to come to Tunbridge Wells any more. Which is a shame. We get less and less ballet now. In fact virtually none. We do get the Russian State Ballet and Opera House but the Nutcracker of theirs I went to was shockingly poor with dancers who seemed not to care. I always enjoyed the Ballet Theatre Uk performances.

One of the dancers who is local to Tunbridge Wells was saying to me the other day that none of the many Ballet Schools in the area were made aware of Aladdin last season. Sadly, it seems that it was one of the Theatres that only make the minimum effort when promoting this company.Many theatres will only host one Ballet a year and prefer the Russian touring companies.

Edited by hfbrew
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northstar

northstar

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Thanks to ballet forum members for flagging this event which I would not have heard about otherwise. I remember English National Ballet prduced a Snow Queen a few years ago which toured but I missed. I went last night to the performance in Runcorn. Ines Ferreira was the Snow Queen, Grace Carr was Gerda, and David Brewer was Kay.

 

I had not heard of Ballet Theatre UK, and given that this was a tour of small local theatres I lowered my expectations. But I was impressed by the level of dancing, the interesting and exciting classical choreography. A very classical dramatic feeling to the ballet despite it's smaller scale, and some exciting powerful climax moments, danced with flair, in the style of the great classical ballets. Although there was light and shade, I came away with the impression of fast-paced choreography and a tighly packed, colourful production with a high entertainment value, so it exceeded my expectations in that regard. I did think it lacked solo work, the only pieces I can recall were part of the peasant pas de trois in Act I.

 

I found the brochure a bit thin on details about the production and the score. The music was, again, classical, dramatic and exciting - seemed to be a pastiche of 19th-century/early-20th-century orchestral music. I recognised Bartok's Romanian Folk Dances and other bits were very familiar. If anyone else has seen this production and can provide any more details I would love to hear them because I can't find any information on the internet.

 

All in all, a rich entertaining ballet which is certainly good value for money, and as a lover of the great classical ballets I'd recommend this one.

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Pas de Quatre

Pas de Quatre

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I saw this a couple of weeks ago. There were several pieces from Glazunov's The Seasons, both from Winter and from Summer including the lovely Valse des Bluets which was used for the girls who were flowers in different coloured tutus in Act 2.   Katchaturian's Masquerade Waltz was the music for the excellent Snow ballet towards the end of the first act.  That's all I can remember off the top of my head.

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northstar

northstar

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Much obliged to you Pas de Quatre for that information, I've checked and checked the programme and can't find any information on the music other than a credit to Simon Paterson who I can only assume is the arranger. 

northstar

northstar

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Thanks again Pas de Quatre! I remember thinking there were several quite well known waltzes used in the ensembles, but I wouldn't have been able to name them without a good deal more research so thanks so much. I've never seen a ballet that has a pastiche score of different composers, and it worked fairly well I thought.

 

I gather from online newspaper reviews the ENB Snow Queen adapted Prokofiev's Stone Flower for it's score - which would give entirely a different musical sense to the Ballet Theatre UK production. Visually, the ENB production looks (from the few clips and photos available online) very similar to the Ballet Theatre UK staging.

swanprincess

swanprincess

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Do you know where the music was from/by for the act 1 pas de Trois? I learnt the variations at summer school last year but haven't been able to find the music online...

Pas de Quatre

Pas de Quatre

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I think most of the P de 3 was from Glazunov's The Seasons.  One of the girls' variations was definitely "Ice" from Winter.  I have used it several times for solos for my pupils in performances.

Delph

Delph

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I hope this isn't too off-topic.... Does anyone know whether any of the venues for this tour are particularly good or bad? I'm in Oxfordshire so any of the nearby counties would be within my reach - e.g. Berkshire, Bucks, Glos, Wilts. I'd be prepared to travel for a good theatre rather than see the performance at a mediocre one.

hfbrew

hfbrew

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I hope this isn't too off-topic.... Does anyone know whether any of the venues for this tour are particularly good or bad? I'm in Oxfordshire so any of the nearby counties would be within my reach - e.g. Berkshire, Bucks, Glos, Wilts. I'd be prepared to travel for a good theatre rather than see the performance at a mediocre one.

Brighton Dome.

 

I believe Buxton Opera house too (but not been there myself)  but that's probably too far North.

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Jan McNulty

Jan McNulty

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I hope this isn't too off-topic.... Does anyone know whether any of the venues for this tour are particularly good or bad? I'm in Oxfordshire so any of the nearby counties would be within my reach - e.g. Berkshire, Bucks, Glos, Wilts. I'd be prepared to travel for a good theatre rather than see the performance at a mediocre one.

 

The Crescent Theatre in Birmingham is very nice and I also like to Octagon in Yeovil.  

 

Buxton Opera House is a gorgeous theatre in a gorgeous town but the rake is most bizarre.  I hadn't realised how bizarre till I saw BRB performing Take 5 there; that ballet has squares of light on the floor and we could see the stage has a rake, flat bit and another rake because of the way the light squares were distorted!

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northstar

northstar

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Swanprincess, although my memory of the performance is already getting a little foggy, I'm pretty sure that as well as the Glazunov music PdQ mentioned, some sections of the peasant pas de trois used Bartok's Romanian Folk Dances as well. I remember thinking that it was an effective and appropriate choice to use folk dances for this scene. I found this section one of the most memorable parts of the ballet, and I can still see in my head the part when one peasant girl was promenaded in attitude by the other two, with the other peasant girl bourree-ing on the outside of the circle. Thanks for posting your review.  

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nickwellings

nickwellings

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Having very much enjoyed last year's Swan Lake (the transition from Princess to Odette memorable!) so much so that I saw it twice, I am tempted by their Snow Queen.

 

I just wondered how long the performance is, please? I am beholden to trains! Thank you.

hfbrew

hfbrew

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Having very much enjoyed last year's Swan Lake (the transition from Princess to Odette memorable!) so much so that I saw it twice, I am tempted by their Snow Queen.

I just wondered how long the performance is, please? I am beholden to trains! Thank you.

As ever, 2 hours including interval!

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porthesia

porthesia

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I was thinking Sat eve as well, especially if OH has to go back to Scotland.  I'm going to try and pin them all down tonight!!  I'll let you know too!

hfbrew

hfbrew

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Tickets booked for the Saturday 2 January.  Getting excited - any clues on casting?

 

Believe it or not cast sheets are now available each performance as well as the programmes.

However I can tell you that all being well on that Saturday evening, David Brewer is Kay, Ines Ferreira is the Snow Queen and Grace Carr is Gerda.

 

Sadly I am not going now!

celb

celb

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I was delighted to attend tonight's performance of the Snow Queen in our small provincial theatre.They coped admirably with the small stage and I hope they will return for future performances. I recognised one of the dancers who has danced in this theatre previously with the European Ballet.There were no cast lists available tonight and as previously mentioned no information about the dancers in the programme.I was directed by front of house to the website. It was refreshing to watch a mainly youthful cast dance with gusto in beautiful costumes.

  • Like 1

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