Dance review: Scottish Ballet: Wee Hansel & Gretel, Theatre Royal, Glasgow

Scottish Ballet's Wee Hansel and Gretel is a charming, bite-size ballet that will keep children hooked with some clever devices

SCOTTISH Ballet’s show for younger audiences speaks volumes about its engagement with the wider community, both onstage and off. This mini version of Christopher Hampson’s Hansel & Gretel is not only taking quality ballet to a wide geographical audience, but many of the dancers performing it are students from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Scottish Ballet: Wee Hansel & Gretel, Theatre Royal, Glasgow ****

Alongside three professional company members, performing the central roles of Hansel, Gretel and the Witch, the young dancers take on a myriad of characters with a lightness of touch, ideally suited to a children’s show.

At just 50 minutes long (versus the two-hour original), Wee Hansel & Gretel shrinks but doesn’t skimp. Gone are the longer routines that would have little ones looking for a distraction, but the integrity of the dance still holds. This is a ballet, not a pantomime, and choreography is the beating heart of the storytelling.

That said, narrator James Siggens – who bookends the show with audience interaction and pops up mid-way with a quick re-cap – is a welcome addition to the show. Siggens’ easy but engaging manner is pitch-perfect, his rhymes clever yet easy to follow.

Any show aimed at three to eight year-olds has to have a regular supply of theatrical trinkets to keep children hooked. Here, they come in the form of dancing toys, a beautiful set reveal, playful naughtiness from the siblings and a little dark wit.

Touring from Shetland to Greenock, Inverness to Dundee, this charming, bite-size ballet is proving Scottish Ballet is indeed a national company for all ages.

KELLY APTER

On tour around Scotland until 26 October