Owen Young was back as the First Steps Storyteller at Birmingham Hippodrome, making children and adults laugh, stare in awe at the stage and understand ballet that little bit better.
If you have never been to a Birmingham Royal Ballet First Steps performance, you are missing out. They are wonderful. Thoroughly enjoyed by Jemima who was so excited to be going again, that she wanted to dress up as Angelina Ballerina.
They usually last 60 minutes, however Peter and the Wolf was 50 minutes long but it included the whole Peter and the Wolf ballet, as seen in the adults [Un]leashed show this week (see review of [Un]leashed here).
Owen is fantastic and helps children (and adults) to understand ballet. He helps children to understand what miming is (how ballet dancers communicate minus speaking) and he uses chances for the curtains going up and down and the house lights going on and off, to make the children all join in and make them believe that they have magic hands.
Peter and the Wolf has been modernised by Ruth Brill who brings a contemporary feel to the show whilst still giving you all the opportunities to use your imagination. The tree is a scaffolding set, the basket ball nets are nests, the set of ladders are a tree trunk… All with a Digbeth style feel to the show. If you’re not from Birmingham, a ‘Digbeth Style’ is back street, cultured Birmingham, where you would find art (graffiti style) on the walls and expect to see street dancing.
The modern feel was fun, playful and quirky. Adults and children alike, all seemed to enjoy it.
Alexander Yap did a fantastic impersonation of the Wolf. Jemima turned to me in the show and in her usual cheeky way, said, “I hope the Wolf eats you and not me”. Which made me laugh but also showed me that at the age of three, she was invested in the story. Well done Owen and also Ruth Brill and Marion Tait (CBE) who worked together to devise this show.
If you have read some of my other adult ballet reviews, you will know that I’m a fan of Gus Paynes wonderful ability to play the roles of animals perfectly. He is a bird in this performance (he was a Cockerel in La Fille mal Gardee) and yet again, he dances the role flawlessly and elegantly in Peter and the Wolf.
All of the ballet dancers performed beautifully and I heard many words of praise when I left the theatre. Jemimas favourites were the Hunters, danced by Tori Forsyth-Hecken, Yu Kurihara and Lynsey Sutherland.
When you go make sure you take your little one down to the front of the theatre so they can look over to where the incredibly talented Royal Ballet Sinfonia sit. Conductor Philip Ellis and the orchestra were outstanding during this show. Each of the characters was played and identified via a musical instrument. The Wolf played by three horns and the Bird played by a flute. There were some very different and interesting instruments used too. Did you go? Can you remember what they were?
The theatre also have free cushions for children to higher their bums on the seats. I recommend getting one for little ones. We have never been unable to see the stage, but I think it’s nicer for children if they feel a little higher on their seat.
For those families who have children that are at school but would also like to go, next year will see shows moving to 4:30pm. Perfect for Birmingham families. My eldest is very happy to hear that she will be able to come to the next one. I’m aware that it might be a tight squeeze for those a little further out, to get there from the school run. What’s your view on the timing for the next show?
Disclaimer: We were invited along to review the show. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Photographs of the stage and ballet dancers of Peter and the Wolf were provided by Birmingham Royal Ballet and taken by Andrew Ross.