Little Red Riding Hood comes to London

Little Red Riding Hood

Photo John Bishop
(c) 2016 Ballet Cymru: all rights reserved
Reproduced wth kind permission of the company

Ballet Cymru, Little Red Riding Hood and Three Little Pigs, Sadler's Wells, 29 Nov 2016

David Murley

Ballet Cyrmu, a jewel-box of a ballet company, recently performed their production of Roald Dahl’s Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Pigs. Based in Newport, Wales, the company came to London and put the fairy tale inspired show on at the Lilian Baylis Studio Theatre at Sadler’s Wells from the 28th – 30th November 2016. The performance was perfect in length, not too long or too short. To add, the spectacle goes down a treat with both children and adults alike.

First on the bill for the evening was Little Red Riding Hood. Keeping true to the ‘Revolting Rhymes’ of Welsh author Dahl, the company members execute James’s and Doughty’s choreography with acute precision while maintaining vivid characterisations. Integrating complex footwork and maintaining a high level of animation to sustain characterization is a skill. It takes a lot of energy and concentration – something the dancers of Ballet Cymru have made to seem effortless. There were moments in the enchaînements of the Sprites and Little Red Riding Hood herself where the sequences of dance appeared to be a marathon of endless steps. However, the dancers blazed through the plentiful choreography, again, seamlessly staying in character. 

The technicality of the female dancer’s footwork – especially the use of the metatarsals, particularly amongst the female Sprites in Little Red Riding Hood was noticeably articulate and crisp. From a technical dance point of view, this was exceptionally pleasing to watch. Keep up the good work, ladies! 

Spanish company Artist Anna Pujol portrayed a likeable, empowered, no-nonsense and even glamorous Little Red Riding Hood. Pujol has sass and class. There were moments speckled throughout the piece when she was a budding Cyd Charisse. English Narrator Mark Griffiths, who trained in Canada, finds himself back in the UK in Ballet Cymru after performing with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. His solid and robust North American training was evident in his double saut de basques and strong jump. Not only did Griffiths exemplify strong and confident dancing abilities, but he excelled in the role as Narrator. Griffiths was able to speak clearly, audibly and enunciate with clarity that was easy on the ear. To add, Griffiths’s displayed a propensity to chop and change accents as he voiced over the different characters in Dahl’s story. 

After a short interval, the programme continued with Dahl’s The Three Little Pigs. It was refreshing to see some of the other company members given a chance to shine. Rockstar Big Bad Wolf, played by Australian Dylan Waddell, was positively hammy, nimble and authentic. He was consistent throughout, technically and character-wise. Waddell has a genuine stage presence. 

The staging of the Three Little Pigs' houses was simply adorable. Anyone who has kids, or occasionally cries during films will most certainly have a hearty chuckle as the wolf huffs and puffs and blows their houses down. Again, kudos to Spanish dancer Pujol for re-entering as Little Red Riding Hood, this time with a towel on her head and looking simply divine. 

The company of dancers at Ballet Cymru appear to be a strong and tight-knit community within themselves. There appears to be a supportive camaraderie amongst them, which is essential in maintaining a healthy and successful group of dancers. I wish them well, and look forward to seeing the group again soon. They were a pleasure to watch. 

Ballet Cyrmu next head to Cardiff where they will be putting on their production of Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs. The company will perform on the main stage of the Millennium Centre with a full 72-piece symphony orchestra on the 4th December 2016. Ballet Cymru is the first dance company to perform Dahl’s story set to composer’s Paul Patterson’s colourful and vibrant score. All the best to the company in Cardiff. The evening will undoubtedly be an enchanting one.

Ballet Cymru's Summer Tour

Darius James with Gwenllian Davies and Miguel Fernandes

Photo Gita Mistry
(c) 2016 Gita Mistry, all rights reserved

Ballet Cynru, Roald Dahl's Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs, Riverfront Theatre, Newport 21 May 2016

Last night I attended the opening of Ballet Cymru's summer tour at the company's home theatre in Newport. The works which they are taking on tour are revivals of Roald Dahl's  Little Red Riding Hood & The Three Little Pigs to celebrate the centenary of the writer's birth and Romeo a Juliet to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death.  Both ballets were created by Darius James and Amy Doughty whose work I admire very much indeed. Their Cinderella was outstanding. It was so good that it was my ballet of the year and their Tir was my number two (see Highlights of 2015 29 Dec 2915).

The work which the company performed last night was Lwhich I previewed in Hard not to have Favourites ...... Ballet Cymru's Little Red Riding Hood rides again 28 April 2016). These are dance dramas based on two of Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes which are connected by the appearance of Little Red Riding Hood as wolf slayer in both works. Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf are act 1 and The Three Little Pigs are act 2. The ballet is very short which makes it suitable for young children of whom there were quite a few in the audience last night but those stories have an ironic twist epitomized by the line "Ah, Piglet, you must never trust Young ladies from the upper crust" which appeals to adults.

The central figure in the show (or as Gita would say "person of the match") was Little Red Riding Hood danced last night by Lydia Arnoux who displayed her usual virtuosity with charm and humour but she was supported strongly by Mark Griffiths who told the story and also by Andrea Battagia who danced the wolf and Robbie Moorcroft who danced the dissolute alcoholic grandma in act 1. Yesterday was an opportunity to see Ballet Cymru's latest recruits two of whom appear with Darius James in the photo above. Gwenllian Davies, who is actually Welsh, danced the virtuous grandmother yesterday. Her companion, Miguel Fernandes, was part of a cow in act 1 and a pig in act 2. Dylan Waddell was the other half of the cow. Anna Pujol was a pig in both acts. They all performed well as did the whole cast.

The recruitment of four new dancers with excellent credentials attests to the increasing strength and self confidence of the company. It is still relatively small in numbers but not in ambition for it will perform Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs to the accompaniment of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in the massive Millennium Centre in Cardiff on 4 Dec 2016. That will be a great day and a coming of age for a great little company. Wherever you are in the country, nay Europe or indeed the world, it will be worth a trip to Cardiff for it will be a day to remember.

Hard not to have Favourites ...... Ballet Cymru's Little Red Riding Hood rides again

While much of the ballet world has been commemorating the fourth centenary of the death of William Shakespeare (see Opera, Ballet and the Bard - Shakespeare Lives 23 Apr 2016) Ballet Cymru will be celebrating another literary anniversary, namely the centenary of the birth in Llandaff of the novelist, poet and screenplay writer Roald Dahl.

One of Dahl's most popular works is his Revolting Rhymes which is a re-working in verse of a number of traditional children's stories.  Here is an example.  Everyone knows the traditional story of the three little pigs and their respective construction technologies which Hannah Bateman and Victoria Sibson have made into a charming children's ballet for Northern Ballet.  Well Dahl took the story one step forward by enlisting the help of Little Red Riding Hood who had already dispatched another wolf in an earlier story:

"The small girl smiles. One eyelid flickers.
She whips a pistol from her knickers.
She aims it at the creature's head
And bang bang bang, she shoots him dead.
A few weeks later, in the wood,
I came across Miss Riding Hood.
But what a change! No cloak of red,
No silly hood upon her head.
She said, ``Hello, and do please note
My lovely furry wolf skin coat.''

Little Red Riding Hood disposes of the pigs' predator sure enough but there is a twist:

"Ah, Piglet, you must never trust Young ladies from the upper crust.
For now, Miss Riding Hood, one notes,
Not only has two wolf skin coats,
But when she goes from place to place,
She has a PIG SKIN TRAVELLING CASE."

Now I try not to have favourites among ballet companies but who could not love one that creates a ballet from such delicious materials?

Darius James and Amy Doughty have done just that to a score by Paul Patterson and sets and costumes by Steve Denton. The work, Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs, opens at The Riverfront theatre in Newport on 20 May 2016 before visiting Blackwood, Abergavenny, Lincoln, Stevenage, King's Lynn, Tewkesbury, Porthcawl, Basingstoke, Burnham on Sea, Newcastle under Lyme, Milford Havon, Bury St. Edmunds, Hereford, Bangor and Lichfield.

Ballet Cymru are not ignoring the anniversary of Shakespeare's death altogether. They are reviving their Romeo a Juliet which I reviewed in They're not from Chigwell - they're from a small Welsh Town called Newport 14 May 2013 which they are taking to Portsmouth, Llanelli and Stevenage. I have seen a lot of Romeo and Juliets in my time and even tried to dance some of it with very little success (see We had a stab at that! KNT's Romeo and Juliet Intensive Workshop for Beginners 9 April 2016 and Romeo and Juliet Intensive - the awful proof as the camera does not lie 21 April 2016) but James and Doughty's version is one of my favourites. If I can find an excuse to get to Pompey or Stevenage I will. As I say, I try not to have favourites among ballet companies but sometimes it's hard.