The Red Shoes

WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE

Before a ballet, I usually do a quick Google search. I’m about as far from a ballet aficionado as you can get, so getting the critic’s equivalent of a jump-start from a search engine usually prevents my review from becoming ill-informed nonsense. Well, no more than usual. 

Anyway, Dr Google informed me that The Red Shoes was a classic fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen about a pair of magical dancing shoes. Fine by me, I thought, settling in for a straightforward slice of fantasy ballet.

But it wasn’t long after the curtain rose that I realised I probably should have scrolled a little further. It seems I was not only ignorant of the original fairy tale but also the subsequent 1948 film (with which this ballet has far more in common) and it quickly became apparent that this is a story set within another. A sort of balletic ‘Inception’, if you will. 

At the core is Victoria, an aspiring young dancer who is unexpectedly promoted to star in an adaptation of The Red Shoes – the fairytale I thought I was going to be watching in the first place. 

We follow her rise to success and how this captures the attention and affections of the formidable impresario Boris, and the company’s composer, Julian. Victoria finds herself torn not simply between these two men, but between love and ambition. 

Hannah Kremer is magnificent as Victoria. She captures the character’s hunger for adoration, and gradually hardens into an inevitably entitled diva. Through movement alone, she communicates blinding ambition whilst wisely allowing flickers of vulnerability to surface, particularly in scenes with Julian, and in the quieter backstage moments in which she dances ‘like no one is watching’. Fittingly, these are the moments in which she is finally noticed by Boris, who later, quite literally, lifts her into the spotlight.

Reece Causton’s Boris is suitably commanding, acting as the closest this story comes to a villain. But his love for Victoria feels genuine and heartfelt, even when he manipulates and sabotages her out of spite. Causton’s solitary moments are also tinged with heartbreak and, I felt, implied a sense of remorse for his behaviour.

Leonardo McCorkindale excels as Julian, the struggling composer whose artistic aspirations mirror Victoria’s. His late-night battles at the piano beautifully convey both the torment and exhilaration of creating art, and his chemistry with Kremer feels rooted in their shared ruthless ambition. 

The production’s design is tremendous. Lez Brotherston’s sets glide seamlessly from Covent Garden to Monte Carlo, then to a worn East End theatre where Victoria and Julian find themselves professionally exiled.

Two moments stood out for me. First, the ingenious staging that splits Boris’ bedroom from Julian and Victoria’s, a rotating reveal that allows scenes to flow into one another. Secondly, the ballet-within-the-ballet at the end of Act One (the performance of The Red Shoes itself) is a real fever dream. For me, it felt almost reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick in its stylised intensity. It was hallucinogenic and hypnotic.

Lighting by Paule Constable and sound by Paul Groothuis help to create this cinematic atmosphere, and of course Terry Davies’ sublime orchestration of Bernard Herrmann’s golden-age Hollywood score is sweeping and enthralling from beginning to end.

As I say, I am about as much of a ballet scholar as I am a renowned NASA astronaut, so I feel only qualified to judge the storytelling (and even then, this is probably a push). However, for my tastes the choreography felt entirely purposeful and seemed to serve the story with every gesture. 

My understanding is that Matthew Bourne has long been praised – and snubbed – for making ballet accessible to the masses. Well, speaking as a grateful member of said ‘masses’, I have to say I felt guided rather than patronised. The storytelling was crystal clear, and not at the expense of emotional depth.

The production served as a reminder to me just how unnecessary it is to skim-read a search engine’s top results before a Matthew Bourne ballet. The master choreographer clearly demonstrates that a good story well told never requires homework.

The Red Shoes is touring throughout the UK until 9th May 2026. For further information, please visit New Adventures Tickets.