For Victoria Page, the choice between romance and movement comes down to what her footwear dictates. This unsettling narrative about a ballerina’s destiny serves as a warning about pride, vanity, and fixation, while simultaneously exposing the toll exacted for exceptional artistry.
The landmark 1948 film The Red Shoes, a daring and fantastical adaptation of the Andersen fairy tale, has influenced reinterpretations from artists such as Kate Bush. This Powell and Pressburger classic has long captured the imagination of Sir Matthew Bourne, whose Olivier-winning stage version debuted ten years ago.
This week, the exquisite production from Bourne’s New Adventures company is delighting theatergoers at Bradford’s Alhambra Theatre. And what an outstanding performance it delivers!
The staging proves magnificent, with settings transitioning from post-war London to luxurious Paris and glittering Monte Carlo, offering a striking version of the dark story surrounding a dancer’s all-consuming dedication to her art.
When emerging ballet talent Vicky Page encounters aspiring composer Julian Craster, the two young creatives appear ideally suited. However, Vicky also succumbs to another force—ambition, encouraged by theatrical manager Boris Lermontov, who maintains that achieving greatness requires abandoning romantic distractions.
Central to any New Adventures presentation is a company of exceptionally gifted performers, each bringing their characters to vivid life. The stage overflows with activity throughout this production, as the excellent ensemble drives the narrative forward, compelling viewers to revisit each moment to absorb every detail. From beach attendants playing on Monte Carlo shores to two awkward Egyptian dancers in a music hall setting, touches of humor appear consistently—a Bourne signature, reaching through accessible dance theater toward audiences who would never consider attending a ballet.
The story moves between Covent Garden and Monte Carlo
The cast features participants from the original staging alongside young dancers from New Adventures’ Swan School.
With events occurring both on and offstage, Lez Brotherston’s gleaming proscenium arch guides viewers behind the curtains, where much of Vicky’s journey unfolds—from principal ballerina to exhausted variety performer at a dilapidated East End theater.
One of the production’s most memorable moments arrives during the dramatic ballet-within-a-ballet, when Vicky dances until she collapses from exhaustion, controlled by the red shoes that seem possessed of their own will. Set to stirring compositions by Hollywood scorer Bernard Herrmann, the talent behind Hitchcock soundtracks, it’s a remarkable sequence embodying the production’s sweeping cinematic quality.
New Adventures’ skilled dancers portray a theatrical company
Cordelia Braithwaite mesmerized audiences as Vicky; illuminating the stage with an almost supernatural display. The devastating bedroom sequence where she wrenches the red shoes from her beloved’s hold, determining her destiny, proves so intense it steals your breath.
The Red Shoes explores devotion and fixation
Company veteran Dominic North, who launched his dancing career in his hometown of Bingley, delivered a strong performance as Julian, while Reece Causton offered a compelling Lermontov—ruthless manipulator and tormented spirit.
A haunting narrative, superbly staged and performed.
The Red Shoes continues at the Alhambra through Saturday, April 25.