Story: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, based on the fairytale by Hans Christian Anderson
Music: Bernard Herrmann
Director and choreographer: Matthew Bourne
There is some argument to be made that Powell and Pressburger’s 1948 film The Red Shoes was the first to introduce the British public to ballet as a form of dance available to all, instead of the elites.
Whether that’s true or not, Sir Matthew Bourne’s stage adaptation of the film, which premiered in 2016 and returns to Sadler’s Wells as a Christmas treat, certainly feels more accessible as an introduction to what classical dance is and can be to new audiences than some of the staples of the classical repertoire. That’s helped by the New Adventures company’s trademark storytelling style, which helps to transfer the film’s narrative structure to thrilling life on stage with dialogue-free clarity.
The tale revolves around a ballet company run by Boris Lermontov. A young composer, Julian, is hired as a rehearsal répétiteur – and both men soon become enamoured by the company’s charismatic ballerina, Victoria Page.
The first half of Act I introduces us to the world of the Ballet Lermontov company, as its prima ballerina suffers an injury and Victoria is promoted in her place. Emotional truth is always a benefit of Bourne’s choreography, so the boredom of guests at a soirée, or the lacklustre performance of dancers in the rehearsal room, is evident even when the actual performances we witness are vivid and exact.
That clarity does fall away as the dance company embarks on its ballet performance. This show, also called The Red Shoes, more closely follows Hans Christian Anderson’s fairytale, set here in a Brutalist new wave set. As a piece of work, it’s far less interesting than the dance we witness before and after. What it does do is help cement the idea that Victoria (danced at the review performance by Cordelia Braithwaite) is a genuine star and a true prima ballerina.
That’s essential information once the ballet-within-a-ballet ends and Victoria and Julian (Leonardo McCorkindale) share an impassioned kiss, enraging Andy Monaghan’s Lermontov. Act II follows the young lovers after they have left the ballet company and are struggling on the East London musical hall circuit. Victoria’s red shoes, which she has kept, become a symbol of her need to dance.
While there isn’t quite the magnetic thrill of the first act, Bourne’s choreography becomes more introspective as he examines the conflict Victoria feels between the man she wants and the profession she needs and craves. The Red Shoes wordlessly portrays the question of how much one is prepared to sacrifice for art, and why the answer must, by necessity, be everything.
With gorgeous costumes, dashes of wit and humour throughout and some exquisitely choreographed routines, Bourne’s work always feels like a sumptuous experience. And while his reinterpretations of the classical repertoire, especially Swan Lake, help to emphasise the enduring appeal of those pieces, The Red Shoes focuses on why, for those who love ballet, there really is nothing finer.
Runs until 18 January 2026
