Press Release: London Children's Ballet celebrates its 25th anniversary season with Ballet Shoes

[Jan McNulty]

LONDON CHILDREN’S BALLET CELEBRATES ITS

25th ANNIVERSARY SEASON WITH

 

BALLET SHOES

A ballet based on Noel Streatfeild’s popular novel

 

at The Peacock Theatre

 

4th-7th JULY 2019

 

 

This summer, London’s esteemed all-children ballet company are reviving their 2001 hit, Ballet Shoes (based on the much loved children’s novel by Noel Streatfeild). The show - which will run at London’s Peacock Theatre from 4th-7th July - marks London Children’s Ballet’s 25th Anniversary season and will be brought to life by the company’s talented cast comprising 56 young dancers aged 9-16. With specially commissioned choreography, sets, costumes and scores and a live orchestra accompanying each performance, the London Children’s Ballet productions provide an ideal introduction to ballet and classical music for young audiences and their families. This year’s revival of Ballet Shoes will be choreographed by ex-LCB cast member, Ruth Brill who is now a First Artist of Birmingham Royal Ballet. Ruth returns to LCB 18 years after she starred as Pauline Fossil in the original 2001 production of Ballet Shoes which was choreographed by Cathy Marston. A unique charitable organisation, London Children’s Ballet was founded in 1994 by Artistic Director Lucille Briance MBE whose goal it was to create a means-blind opportunity for talented young dancers to perform in original ballets created exclusively for them.

 

Dame Darcey Bussell, Patron of London Children’s Ballet, summed up the company’s mission: ‘To dance on a stage is the dream for so many young dance students. Unfortunately, few get this opportunity, which is one reason why London Children’s Ballet is so important. It gives children the chance to be part of a youth company, to be chosen for their talent regardless of shape, size or financial background.’  

 

Ruth Brill ex-LCB dancer and First Artist with Birmingham Royal Ballet said:

“I owe a lot to LCB. I developed so much as a dancer through my years dancing with them and it’s amazing to be able to come back as a choreographer 18 years later! It is thanks to them that I have become the artist I am today and it will be an honour to stage and rework Cathy Marston’s production, as it is so close to my heart.”

 

Ballet Shoes tells the story of the Fossil sisters, Pauline, Petrova and Posy. The three sisters are adopted in the 1930s by an eccentric explorer, Great Uncle Matthew who delivers them into the care of his niece and a no-nonsense housekeeper, then promptly disappears. When hard times come, the determined girls decide to seek their fortune by joining a stage school, with intentions of acting and dancing their way into the history books. This may be bliss for Pauline and Posy, but Petrova dreams only of tinkering with motor cars and flying in an aeroplane. As the little family grows up, each girl is pulled to follow her heart, learning valuable life lessons along the way.

 

Every year over 700 children audition to join London Children’s Ballet. The 60 children who go on to be cast in the company’s productions are given 100 hours of free ballet training culminating in the chance to perform in a professionally created ballet on a west end stage. The organisation does not discriminate on grounds of height, shape or income and dancers are selected purely on their ability. London Children’s Ballet fundraises year-round to ensure that it is able to offer its unique opportunity to all of its young dancers regardless of their circumstances. Demand for places has remained so high that a second branch of the company, LCB Touring Companies, was created in 2004 to increase the number of children able to participate and to broaden the outreach the organisation is able to achieve. Twice a year 50 additional LCB touring company dancers perform in residential homes, hospices, day centres and Special Educational Needs schools with a 30-minute tailored performance, taking ballet out into the community and ensuring an enriching experience for all involved.

 

• -ENDS -

 

 

Notes

 

Production Credits

Artistic Director - Lucille Briance MBE

Choreographer - Ruth Brill (after Cathy Marston)

Composer - Raymond Warren

Set Design – Charlie Camm

Lighting Design – Mark Jonathan

Costume Design – Kate Ford

Original Story – Noel Streatfeild

 

Press images

Press images for Ballet Shoes can be downloaded at this Dropbox link.

 

Praise for London Children’s Ballet

 

“I still haven’t recovered from my breathless admiration of that magnificent production. It was nothing short of awesome…a firework display of talent and promise, bursting with more life and energy than most London stages ever produce.” Emma Thompson

 

“Until last week I had never seen a children's production. My baptism was wonderful thanks to the London Children's Ballet.” Clare Balding

 

“London Children’s Ballet is my favourite outing in London. The kids come away with giga-grins!” Harry Enfield

 

Ruth Brill (Revival Choreographer)

Born in Kent Ruth trained at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts and English National Ballet School. She danced with English National Ballet 2007-2012 and then moved to Birmingham Royal Ballet. In 2014 she was promoted to First Artist. Ruth’s choreography includes: Hit on all Sixes (Choreographic workshop, 2013), Butterfly Effect (Elmhurst Ballet School, 2013), Rhapsody in Blue (Birmingham Royal Ballet, 2014), Matryoshka (Birmingham Royal Ballet, 2015), Tempo di Polacca (Elmhurst Ballet School, 2015)' Sound of Strength (Rugby World Cup welcoming ceremony for England, 2015), Flash Flock - community flash mob, The Bullring for Birmingham Weekender Festival, 2015), Pennies from Heaven (A Winter Less Ordinary Festival, 2015) and Arcadia (Birmingham Royal Ballet,2017). Repertory includes La Fille mal Gardée (Lise's Friends), Façade ('Foxtrot', 'Yodeling'), Les Rendezvous (pas de quatre), The Dream, (Moth), Serenade, Theme and Variations, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, The Nutcracker Sweeties (Sugar Rum Cherry), 'Still Life' at the Penguin Café (Great Auk), Hobson's Choice (Maggie Hobson), Lily of Laguna (pas de deux), The Seasons ('Winter' pas de trois), Beauty and the Beast (Fiére), Take Five ('Three to Get Ready'), The Shakespeare Suite, Carmina Burana, The Prince of the Pagodas (Balinese Girl), Aladdin ('Sapphire', 'Pearl', Djinn's Entourage), Cinderella (Dumpy), E=mc² ('Energy', 'Celeritas²'), Giselle (Berthe) The Taming of the Shrew, 9-5 (The Boss), Printer Jam (Duet), The Grand Tour (Mary Pickford, Stowaways) Romeo and Juliet (Nurse), Elite Syncopations, In theUpper Room, Checkmate (Red Pawn) The Nutcracker (Spanish Dance), Coppélia (Swanilda's Friends, 'Betrothal'), The Sleeping Beauty (Fairy of Song, Little Red Riding Hood) and Swan Lake (Pas de quatre, Cygnets, Lead Czárdás).

 

Raymond Warren (Composer)

Raymond studied composition with two of the big names of 20^th Century music, Lennox Berkeley and Sit Michael Tippett whose qualities, he says, he hopes have rubbed off on him! He began an academic career as Professor of Music at Bristol University in 1972 where Raymond admits to being somewhat spoilt as a composer in only having to write the music of his choice: three symphonies, a violin concerto, chamber music, cantatas, song cycles and six operas, three of which were large scale works for children. Raymond wrote Ballet Shoes for LCB in 2001.“I love writing for children because there is always an immediate and vital response when they add their creativity to the bald musical notes of the score. Watching the transformation from musical to balletic gestures at London Children’s Ballet has been one of my most exciting experiences.” Raymond Warren

 

London Children’s Ballet - Outreach Programmes

As well as its flagship annual production, LCB runs year-round outreach programmes including its three flagship outreach initiatives, Ballet for £1, LCB Tours, and Ballet in a Box. Each season LCB gives away 2,000 tickets (25% of all tickets available) to its annual production for just £1. The tickets go to specially chosen primary schools in London’s most disadvantaged communities and to charities for disabled children and elderly people. Many in the audience have never been to the theatre before, and for the majority this is their first experience of classical ballet. The charity sends three LCB Touring Companies each year into care homes for the elderly and schools for children with profound disabilities. Small companies of 12 dancers take abridged versions of the West End ballet to perform for those least able to access the theatre. Ballet in a Box is LCB’s first national initiative, which makes the creative assets of LCB available to local dance schools that partner with LCB in its mission to use dance to change lives.

 

Alumni of London Children’s Ballet include The Royal Ballet’s Anna Rose O’Sullivan (Soloist) and Julia Roscoe (Artist) and the Royal Ballet’s first participant on the Young Choreographer Programme, Charlotte Edmunds; English National Ballet’s First Soloist, James Streeter and BBC Young Dancer of the Year 2017, Nafisah Baba and West End star of Motown The Musical, Lucy St Louis.

 

Listings Info:

Address: The Peacock Theatre, Portugal St, Holborn, London WC2A 2HT

Performances: 4^th July (7pm), 5th July (6:30pm), 6th July (1:30pm and 5:30pm) 7th July (12:30pm and 4:30pm)

Tickets: £15-£55 (plus booking fee) 

Booking: peacocktheatre.com/

Telephone: 020 7863 8000

Premiere Gala Tickets: Tickets for the 4th July 7pm Gala performance of Ballet Shoes are booked through the London Children's Ballet on 020 8969 1555 and www.londonchildrensballet.com

 

Instagram: @lcbballet Facebook: @lcballet Twitter: @LCBLondon