Sir Frederick Ashton created Birthday Offering to mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Royal Ballet. I was reminded of Ashton's ballet yesterday when I attended Ballet Cymru's performance ofThe Sleeping Beautyat Theatr Clwyd in Mold for two reasons. First. Ballet Cymru is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Secondly, the show took place on the birthday of one of the dancers.
Ballet Cymru employs no more than a dozen dancers at any time, yet still manages to stage full-length productions. Last year, it presented Giselle which impressed me greatly (seeBallet Cymru's Giselle 3.0 14 June 2025). In previous years, I had been impressed by its Romeo a Juliet (see A Romeo and Juliet for our Times7 Nov 2016) and its Cinderella (see Ballet Cymru's Cinderella Second Time Round3 June 2018. Wherever possible, Ballet Cymru places its ballet in a Welsh setting, often introducing characters from the Mabinogion or Welsh folklore. The stage never seems empty because dancers fill more than one role, sometimes challenging gender stereotypes, as in last year's Giselle, where half the wilis were men.
Choreographers Darius James and Amy Doughty applied that formula to Perrault's tale with great success. Several members of the audience took to their feet at the curtain call while every solo or pas de deux was greeted with cheers and sustained clapping from the back of the stalls.
In accordance with tradition, the ballet consisted of a prologue and three acts. The prologue and Act 1 followed Perrault more or less, but Act 2 was quite different. The last Act was called a "Celebration" rather than a wedding, but it was very much the same idea.
James and Doughty introduced a new set of characters. The sleeping beauty was called Seren (which means "Star" in Welsh) rather than Aurora. Her parents were Modron (Protector of the Earth) and Gwilym, who is described simply as Seren's Dad. Aurora and her parents did not seem to be royalty, and Elen (Protector of Light), Gwydion (Protector of the Forest), Rhiannin (Protector of Animas) and Dyrnwyn (Protector of Fire) were no fairies. Arianrhod (protector of the Moon) performed more or less the same role as Carabosse. There was no lilac fairy, but Modron seemed to enjoy similar powers. There was one completely new character called Brân. He was Seren's childhood friend, and it was he who woke Seren from her slumbers.
Despite the different characters and changes to the story, I was glad to see that much of Petipa's choreography had been preserved. Even though there were no fairies, the Protectors danced something close to the fairy variations. Beth Meadway had taught those dances to Powerhouse Ballet when she was still with Ballet Cymru (see Sleeping Beauty Workshop19 March 2023). A variation of the rose adagio was performed in Act 1. There were still bluebirds in the Celebration even though their costumes were a different colour. The only significant absence was the white cat and Puss 'n Boots. Ballet Cymru has dancers who would enjoy that divertissement.
Gwenllian Davies danced Seren. I first saw her in Romeo a Juliet in 2016 and wrote:
"One of the reasons why I loved the show so much was Gwenllian Davies's remarkable performance as Juliet. Davies is in her first year with the company and this is her first job. Consequently, she is barely older than Shakespeare's Juliet. As I told her after the show, I have seen some of the world's greatest dancers in the role including Lynn Seymour and more recently Alina Cojocaru and Viktoria Tereshkina, but never have I seen a more convincing Juliet. Davies danced with passion and energy and, for a while, I saw in that talented young artist what Shakespeare must have imagined."
She never fails to delight, and she performed magnificently last night. She was partnered gallantly by Karmal Singh,who danced Brân. He is athletic and energetic and evidently trained in the Russian tradition. The other lead female role was Madron, which was danced by Isobel Holland. In many ways this was an even more demanding role than Seren's because Modron combines both mother and Lilac Fairy. She danced that role with flair and grace. Mika George Evans, who danced Arianrhod, also impressed me. She is an accomplished character dancer, and I look forward to seeing her in other character roles. I also commend Jacob Hornsey, who danced Gwilym, Maya Roueche, who danced Elen, Joe Burdett, who danced Gwydion, Siân James, who danced Rhiannon and Oliver Bocero, who danced Dyrnwyn.
Credit is also due to Chris Illingworth for his lighting designs, Frank Duffy for his projected images and Angharad Spenncer for Seren's costumes. Other sets and costumes seem to have been designed by members of the company.
Before the show, the audience was treated to a curtain raiser by the students of Ysgol Ty Ffynnon. They are part of the Duets programme, which introduces dance to children throughout Wales, particularly those in inner cities and rural areas who might otherwise not experience it. This is a two-year programme, and I was impressed by the skills that the students had acquired since I last saw them. After their show, the students were conducted to the back of the stalls where they formed the liveliest and most enthusiastic section of the audience.
Wales has a very distinct folk dance tradition as Ameer discovered in this Hansh video for S4C, There is a very broad foundation on which to build a dancing nation.
