THEATRE REVIEW:  My First Swan Lake – English National Ballet / English National Ballet School – Peacock Theatre and touring  

Choreographed by Antonio Castilla, this is the latest abridged ballet for young children danced by English National Ballet School students.

The Spanish, Hungarian and Italian dances in Act 2  are high spots. The two girls who did the Italian dance at the performance I saw had a real lightness of touch which highlighted the humour. We also had a very promising Siegfried whose leaps were youthfully spectacular and a truly graceful Odette who several times “swanned” her way right across the stage en pointe with watery arms waving and at one point managed to pirouette for around twenty bars of music.

As always the real star of the show is Tchaikovsky’s gloriously expressive score. Because My First Swan Lake runs for only 90 minutes including interval Gavin Sutherland has cut and arranged, the (pre-recorded) music.  Occasional moments of clumsy abruptness as we switch from one thing to another are probably unavoidable

Although actor Louise Calf does a remarkably good job with the saccharine, rather moralistic script she’s been given, the inclusion of a narrator is a mistake.  No one should be shouting over Tchaikovsky as Calf often has to do.  Neither should the big revelatory moment be presented as a music-free tableau with voiceover.

Ballet is story telling in music and movement. It doesn’t need words added even for three year olds. Neither should they be handed the subliminal message that it’s perfectly acceptable to talk over great music.

Review by Susan Elkin