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First Steps: La Fille Mal Gardée. By Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Posted on 30/09/201830/09/2018

On the 28th September, me and Jemima headed off to Birmingham Hippodrome to one of the First Step productions, courtesy of Birmingham Royal Ballet. If you haven’t been before then I really recommend you go to the next First Steps Production as they are fantastic. Not just good for children but parents too.

Fridays First Steps production was La Fille Mal Gardée and the session included the first act from the main show. Jemima loved it. Especially when the chickens were dancing on the stage.

If you’ve not seen the show before, it’s about a girl and boy, Lise and Colas who fall in love with each other. But Lise’s mother, Widow Simone, wants Lise to marry Alain a rich vineyard owners son and not Colas a poor farmer. You see Widow Simone trying to keep Lise and Colas apart. With Widow Simone often telling Lise and Colas off for sneaking moments together. Jemima thoroughly enjoyed telling Widow Simone off when she was on the stage. “Mummy, I don’t like that naughty lady” was a regular sentence.

We got to hear music from the Royal Ballet Sinfonia which Jemima always enjoys when we go to the ballet. I especially enjoyed her getting excited at one piece by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, where she stood up on her chair and said “Mummy I love this music” with a great big smile on her face.

Jemima is 2 and these First Steps performances are perfect for ages 2 and a half to 7. There were some schools in the audience of Fridays performance which I thought was great and I have to say it was lovely to see a much fuller audience than the last time that we went. It seems word is getting out about how fantastic these sessions are.

At the end of the session everyone was invited to line up and meet Lise (Karla Doorbar) and Colas (Tzu-Chao Chou) who had their photo taken with Jemima and handed out laces for children to practice playing cat’s cradle at home. During La Fille Mal Gardée the ballet dancers use large laces to make cat’s cradle, so the children were able to see this on the stage and then go home and practice.

Do take a look at our previous First Steps review where you can read more about what happened on the last visit with Jemima. We will be at the next session in Birmingham again which is Beauty and the Beast on the 1st March 2019.

“The hour-long, interactive show, specially adapted for children aged 3+, features ballet excerpts from Beauty and the Beast, performed by Birmingham Royal Ballet’s amazing dancers and orchestra, interspersed with scenes in which a storyteller introduces the children to the music and the leading characters, and shares some technical magic. A feast of dance, music, costumes and lots of fun, this is a perfect introduction to ballet“.

We will be there and we hope to see you there too.

Disclaimer: We were invited along to the performance in return for an honest review. We really enjoyed seeing the show and our love for ballet continues.

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