Ballet: Northern Ballet's "The Shoemaker & the Elves" Comes to Stirling (Scotland)

I honestly cannot remember seeing a 'real' ballet based on this fairy tale. Theater, yes, puppets, yes, some local ballet companies putting together a variety-type show for parents and sponsors, yes, but not a professional performance. So this is pretty cool.

 This ballet has been touring for about a year now and has gotten excellent reviews wherever they've gone. And now they're headed to Scotland.

Note: if you need to refresh your memory regarding the story, the always fantastic SurLaLune has an annotated version you can read HERE. Oh, and don't worry - there will be no naked elves in this production! (It appears they are leaf clad until they get their new outfits.)

Starting April 9th, Northern Ballet will bring a new ballet for children, "The Elves and the Shoemaker", based on the fairy tale of the same name, for a limited run to the macrobert arts centre in Stirling. Designed for children to be both 'real ballet', yet not needing any interpretation to  understand the story, the performance lasts about forty minutes and is the latest in an award winning children's arts series.

Choreographed by Ballet Master Daniel de Andrade, ‘The Elves and the Shoemaker’ is the latest in the award-winning series of Short Ballets for Small People which already includes the hugely popular ‘Ugly Duckling’ and ‘Three Little Pigs’. (source)

Here is a great little preview, including some behind-the-scenes. The music sounds delightful and the palette of what appears to be autumn colors is beautiful:

There is a delightful 'storybook' of the ballet, using photos (you can see an additional gallery HERE) from a special performance, that's worth taking a look at (I'm attempting to embed below) and there are additional resources for teachers and parents who want something to tie in to the ballet.

Sounds like a lot of fun!

If you're interested in going, here are the details:

‘The Elves and the Shoemaker’ is at the macrobert arts centre on Thursday, April 9 at 12.15 p.m., 2 p.m. & 4 p.m. 

For tickets, priced £8.50, call the box office on 01786 466 666 or visit www.w.macrobert.org.

Note: All photos were taken by Brian Slater for Northern Ballet in a special performance.