Yesterday Wonder Girl and I had the most perfect afternoon. A trip to Bristol Hippodrome to see English National Ballet’s My First Ballet – Cinderella. Having been a ballet fan for most of my life I have been keen to introduce my children to the ballet, and this performance was the perfect introduction for Wonder Girl.
I felt that they hit the mark perfectly in making ballet accessible to children without dumbing it down. The story of Cinderella is told with classical ballet. As an additional layer it is narrated brilliantly by Sarah Goddard who gives each character a unique and distinct voice enabling children to follow the story whilst fully engaging in the ballet.
Cinderella is performed by students from English National Ballet school, which works really well as the young performers are clearly enthusiastic and joyful in their performances. Hats of to the two dancers playing the ugly sisters, who had to be clumsy but graceful, not an easy task for a dancer and they did it well.
The length is one hour and 20 minutes including an interval, which is perfect for the target age group of children aged three upwards. Wonder Girl is six and was engaged throughout and came out talking enthusiastically about what she had just seen, so I would say they hit the mark there.
I would absolutely recommend My First Ballet – Cinderella to people with children aged up at ten. A wonderful performance, beautiful dancing and a great introduction to ballet for children. For more information on the tour visit this page.