Press Release: The Chelmsford Ballet Company to perform Beatrix Potter™ Tales as its anticipated 2020 production

[Jan McNulty]

The Chelmsford Ballet Company to perform Beatrix Potter™ Tales as its anticipated 2020 production

Photo credit:  Tony Cockrell

 

The Chelmsford Ballet Company will be performing Beatrix Potter™ Tales in association with Frederick Warne and Co, at the Civic Theatre, Chelmsford 25–28 March 2020.

Many of the delightful Beatrix Potter characters, enjoyed by generations of children, are brought to life in this imaginative musical interpretation of the famous Victorian author’s best known tales.

We see Beatrix engrossed in her work and watch as some of her characters come to life such as Peter Rabbit helping himself to lettuces from Mr. McGregor’s garden, Jeremy Fisher aboard his lily pad, Hunca Munca and Tom Thumb – two very naughty mice – and a cheeky Squirrel Nutkin. Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle gets help with her washing whilst Jemima Puddle-Duck thrills us with her flight from Mr. Tod, and Pigling Bland falls in love with the Black Berkshire Pig on his way to market. Tabitha Twitchit also makes an appearance, joining in the fun.

For its 2020 production, The Chelmsford Ballet Company invites dancers aged 7–10 (and under 4’ 6” tall) to join the company as small animals. Successful candidates will be required to attend rehearsals on several Sundays from January–March 2020. There will be two teams chosen and they will appear in alternate performances between 25–28 March. Completed application forms, found on the company’s website, must be returned by Monday 7 October.

Tickets for Beatrix Potter™ Tales will go on sale during November via the Civic Theatre box office, on 01245 606505.

www.thechelmsfordballetcompany.co.uk

 

About The Chelmsford Ballet Company

 

In 1947, Joan Weston created the Broomfield YMCA Ballet Company in order to give the more senior students at her existing dance school the opportunity to learn and perform to the public. It was after their 1949 performance of Coppélia at the Shire Hall that the then Mayor of Chelmsford suggested the name ‘The Chelmsford Ballet Company’, and with a small committee the company was born.

Since 1949, the company has staged a full-scale production every year. Initially a part of the Arts Festival, and then the Cathedral Fringe Festival, they occur today as an annual event in their own right. Today the company is led by Artistic Director, Annette Potter, who is a former dancing member. Annette danced many leading roles with the company before moving on to teaching and choreography. The company continues to celebrate artistic success under her leadership, nurturing the company’s dancers from company classes to workshops, through to rehearsals and the company’s annual production.

The company’s patrons are Doreen Wells, Marchioness of Londonderry and Christopher Marney, Artistic Director of Ballet Central.

The ballet company is a way for skilled dancers from across the area to perform together and to showcase their considerable talents to appreciative and receptive audiences. These performances always maintain the high standards and have become a well-loved cornerstone of Chelmsford’s cultural calendar.

The Chelmsford Ballet Company is “an amateur company which sets professional standards for all its work, involving professionals in its productions, courses and other teaching and workshop opportunities”. The company’s aim is to inspire and progress enthusiastic dancers in a safe, friendly and open environment with a professional approach, whilst having fun along the way, it has a reputation for staging impressive productions with fantastic artistry, from the choreography to the sets to the costumes, the company prides itself on the regard with which it is held by Chelmsford audiences, and those further afield. The company is not an extension of any dance school, and dancers are auditioned via a panel of professionals from a dance background. The amateur company prides itself on its professional standards, demonstrating a huge array of talent through its dancers excelling themselves each year. These high standards are maintained through the monthly company classes, where the dancers are able to meet and take a class with experienced and distinguished teachers. In the 1960s a Scholarship Fund was created to help young dancers moving to professional training.

www.thechelmsfordballetcompany.co.uk