The Caravan is back in town - BTUK's Aladdin in Southport

If the above trailer is anything to go by the good folk of Southport are in for a treat tonight. Ballet Theatre UK whom I have previously described as the "Bedouin of Ballet" return to The Atkinson with a new version of Aladdin by Christopher Moore. I have seen two of their shows already: The Little Mermaid on 27 April 2014 and Swan Lake on 11 Dec 2014 and enjoyed them both very much. I have also seen and enjoyed David Bintley's version and it will be interesting to compare the two.

Southport from Holmfirth is a fair old jaunt. There and back is nearly as far as a trek to the Great Wen and can take at least as long if there is a lot of traffic around Manchester. I am making the journey for two reasons. The first is that I like my ballet and this is a good little company. It has assembled a troupe of promising young dancers one of whom is the son of a lady with whom I correspond through BalletcoForum. It is the nearest we have to the Dutch National Ballet's Junior Company in this country and deserves to be encouraged for the same reason.  The second is that my grandson manqué seems to have taken a liking to ballet and shows signs that he may be good at it. He was imitating some of the dancers in Darcey's Ballerina Heroines and not making too bad a hash of it. Though he was born in London his mum comes from Sierra Leone and we have told him all about Michaela De Prince and her life story.

After tonight the caravan moves on to Dartford (which is only a few miles from where the little lad lives so her may pester his parents to take him again), Yeovil, Dunstable, Cambeley and then back to Runcorn. As I say, they do get around a bit. Wherever you live there is a good chance that you will catch them. Like Peter Brinson's Ballet for All when I was young Ernst Meisner's Junior Company in the Netherlands now Ballet Theatre UK is taking ballet to the parts that other companies cannot reach. HDTV transmissions from Moscow and Covent Garden are all very well but they are to ballet in the theatre what hamburger is to fillet steak (see For those who may be interested ........ 24 Jan 2014). Ballet Theatre UK are the real McCoy and they deserve to be supported.