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Although there's a lot more to the London Children's Ballet than just its annual performances in London, it's these which identify it in most people's minds: dozens and dozens of dancing children, in newly created long ballets aiming at the highest possible standards. This year's production is Ballet Shoes, to a score written for the company by Raymond Warren - previously seen nine years ago in a version by Cathy Marston (*), it now has completely new choreography by Matthew Hart, revised sets and costumes, and of course a completely new cast.
The amount of organisation that people must put into these performances is frightening, from those who have to audition the 700 applicants down to the families who have to get the 57 successful candidates to rehearsals every Sunday for months on end. The dedication of the children themselves is a given, and the programme book carries their own descriptions of the experience as well as a look at the careers of two dancers who were in the 2001 production - James Streeter and Ruth Brill, both now of English National Ballet. The majority don't make it that far, but it's clear that they all take away new skills, memories and lasting friendships.
The Fossil children (left-right): Laura Croom (Pauline), Maria Gregory (Posy) & Lowri Shone (Petrova) in Ballet Shoes
© Pedro Ferrer
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Like so many other children in the last 70 years, I read Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes over and over, and thought the last time was more than half a century ago I still remember it very clearly and was fascinated to see how the company's director, Lucille Briance, would adapt the story. It's cleverly done and I don't think anything really essential was missed out, and it's also cleverly staged, with projections showing the changes of scene and also letting us know how the years are passing as the children grow up. Two scenes - in the dancing academy and in a production of Midsummer Night's Dream are greatly expanded to give opportunities for all the dancers to be seen, and if these seem slightly overlong for those without friends and relations in the cast, I did like for instance Hart's mini-version of L'Apres midi d'un Faune and his choreography for Puck. The three sisters, whose story this is, seem just right; poor Winifred could perhaps be rather more downtrodden; and the long-suffering Sylvia probably gets much more sympathy from the adults in the audience than from the (very many, remarkably well-behaved) children.
Benji Pearson, Amari Ifill-Tyson, Serina Faull & Ria Tanaka in Ballet Shoes
© Pedro Ferrer
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I was astonished at the maturity of some of the older dancers - none of them over 16, but playing sophisticated adults very convincingly - and equally by the assurance of some of the youngest ones. There's a wide range of talent, even in this hand-picked cast, and whilst one or two already stand out for their stage presence, they all still have years of schooling ahead of them and it would be a foolish critic who would put money on which of them we'll still be hearing of in another decade. But that's almost beside the point: it's the immediate experience that's important to them and that must be hugely valuable to them all, whatever their future. And for the audience, it's a fun and perfectly worthwhile couple of hours.
* Ballet.co was there - see Bruce Marriott's review
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