Snow White dance preview: Fairytale magic
BalletLorent reprise their 2015 production of the classic fairytale, with a script from Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy
The reasons for our fascination with fairytales are much debated. Some say they appeal to our ancient yearning for eternal truths; others see them as shapeshifting receptacles, ready to be moulded to the teller’s beliefs or those of their time. For choreographers, their magical realms have long seemed irresistible. Liv Lorent, award-winning choreographer and artistic director of BalletLorent, has never been keen on the tights and crowns of ballet, or what she calls the ‘impoverished men and women’ and ‘abject misery’ of physical theatre; her interest has always lain in stories and emotions.
BalletLorent’s 2015 production of Snow White has recently been restaged and promises both those elements in abundance as she seeks to delve into the story’s inherent darkness. The point, for Lorent, has always been to leave audiences moved rather than befuddled, and dance theatre, which combines the clarity of storytelling and the dreamlike abstraction of choreography, has always seemed like the ideal medium.
Lorent’s is a female-led company, which seems particularly apt for the production’s timely twist on the tale in which the Evil Queen is Snow White’s mother. It is also, says Lorent, ‘a stark warning of the dangers of becoming forever spellbound by the obsessive search for eternal beauty’. Written by former Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and narrated by Sarah Parish, this is a family-friendly spectacle that isn’t afraid of the darker truths in fairytales. Perhaps this darkness in enchanted settings is precisely the reason we keep going back to them.
Snow White, Adam Smith Theatre, Kirkcaldy, Friday 13 & Saturday 14 March; Tramway, Glasgow, Friday 20 & Saturday 21 March.