This showcase for young talent offers a new take on The Sleeping Beauty, swapping woodland slumber for cryogenic freezing and a prince for an iPad-wielding arctic explorer.
At its heart though this English Youth Ballet production is about 100 young dancers from the local area getting the chance to appear on Norwich Theatre Royal’s grand stage.
With age ranging from primary up, there is inevitably a range of ability on stage but EYB’s group choreography does a good job of matching the two, offering plenty of movement as well as more challenging moves.
Of the featured dancers, Anya Spencer and Louis Marcham stood out as Lady and Lord Songbird, but especially as the White and Black Cat. The fourteen monsters that flanked the evil Carabosse also livened up the stage. Rachel Lee’s cameo as Cinderella, complete with glass slipper, was also a nice touch.
Of the professional dancers, José Alves convinced most as Prince Alexander, alongside Joshua Webb as a stand-in – and sarcastic – Carabosse. The choreography for many of the solos felt constrained compared to the extensive use of stage in the group pieces, but Webb and Olivia Trevelyan-Richard’s penultimate pas de deux was an attention-grabbing highlight.
- The Sleeping Beauty continues at Norwich Theatre Royal until Saturday 26 July 2025.
