Updated
Friday, 18th December 2020, 10:00 am
Six cities, 68 performances and thousands of audience members. That’s how Scottish Ballet should have been spending this winter, bringing sparkle into people’s lives with Peter Darrell’s much-loved version of The Nutcracker. Instead, like everyone else in 2020, Scottish Ballet has had to adapt. If we can’t go to them, they’ll come to us via a brand new film to watch at home that captures the joy of live performance.
Combining elements of The Nutcracker and Christopher Hampson’s The Snow Queen, The Secret Theatre is seen through the eyes of a young boy who wanders backstage in an empty venue. Props and costumes from previous shows are magically brought to life through dance – including the beautiful Sugar Plum Fairy solo, danced by Scottish Ballet principal Sophie Martin.
Arts events for Sarasota-Manatee: Dec. 31-Jan. 6
Dancing into a new year
The Sarasota Ballet kicks off the new year with its third digital program of excerpts from a wide variety of pieces by six different choreographers. The company announced in December that it would continue its online presentations through the rest of the season. The latest offering, available Friday through Tuesday features Peter Darrell’s “Othello,” Christopher Wheeldon’s “The American,” Sir Matthew Bourne’s “The Infernal Galop,” Sir Peter Wright’s “The Mirror Walkers” and “Summertide,” Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s “Concerto” and Dominic Walsh’s “Clair de Lune.” Admission is $35 and the program may be viewed as many times as you like through Jan. 5. For more information: sarasotaballet.org
Last modified on Mon 21 Dec 2020 10.48 EST
This year has been a test of creativity and nerve for the dance sector (and everybody else), with Christmas its crunch point. Most of the big ballet companies risked putting on a live Nutcracker show, only to have the plug pulled, devastatingly, just before or soon after opening night. Scottish Ballet decided to take a different route, creating an hour-long film that captures balletâs festive twinkle and fairytale charm in screen-savvy manner.
Devised by dancers turned film-makers Jessica Wright and Morgann Runacre-Temple (AKA Jess and Morgs), along with designer Lez Brotherston and Scottish Balletâs artistic director, Christopher Hampson, whatâs clever about it is they donât stray too far from what they know. Itâs set in a theatre, for a start. A boy (Leo Tetteh) kicking his football around the city streets wanders into an empty auditorium and encounters characters from Scottish Balletâs two Christmas shows �
‘NECESSITY”, as the old saying goes, “is the mother of invention.” The adage is proved abundantly and brilliantly true by Scottish Ballet’s hour-long movie The Secret Theatre. With the theatres closed down by the pandemic, our national ballet company decided to make its first-ever feature film. Thank goodness it did so. The movie is a beautifully-crafted and defiant assertion of the human need for artistic expression in dark and difficult times. Set in a grand, but empty, theatre, the film follows an intrepid, little boy (performed charmingly by Leo Tetteh) as he ventures through an unlocked door and into the stalls.
Five Stars A family-friendly seasonal ballet has characterised Scottish Ballet’s winter programming for decades. This December, it would have been the late Peter Darrell’s Nutcracker, a fantastical midnight adventure, seen through the eyes of a child, Clara. Now, courtesy of cinematic panache, it’s through the eyes of a little boy (Leo Tetteh) that we discover a magical realm of dance-y delights in the limbo of a deserted theatre. When Leo (and his ever-present football) accidentally ‘gate-crash’ the venue’s backstage area, he awakens dormant echoes of past productions. Hampers spring open, props and costumes come into play and, in a thrillingly seamless cavalcade, various scenes from Darrell’s Nutcracker and Christopher Hampson’s Snow Queen meld into an hour-long feature film that captures the zest and charm of live performances. A tremendous creative team has gone many extra miles to make this Scottish Ballet ‘first’ come to fruition on-screen. It’s an o