The Red Shoes

THE RED SHOES A new treatment by Matthew Bourne

Matthew Bourne’s THE RED SHOES. Ashley Shaw ‘Victoria Page’ and Adam Cooper ‘Boris Lermontov’. Photo by Johan Persson

New Adventures is a stunning and ground-breaking dance theatre company led by choreographer Matthew Bourne. The company tour across the UK and to international venues pioneering the importance of taking dance to the widest possible audiences including the medium of film.

Currently on the road is the double Olivier award-winning hit The Red Shoes, a tale of obsession, possession and one girl’s dream to be the greatest dancer in the world. Set to the achingly romantic music of golden-age Hollywood composer Bernard Hermann.

Arena looks into the origins of this memorable work…

Playbox Theatre have a vested interest in The Red Shoes as a story. In 1996 Mary King staged a cross discipline production for us at Warwick Arts Centre, later to travel to the US and when we eventually arrived at our Dream Factory, we revived it using all our new technology.

New Adventures show The Red Shoes is based on the film from 1949.

New Adventures first brought it to the stage in 2016 where it won two Olivier Awards plus proved incredibly popular generating tremendous audience acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic, and now Matthew is taking the production back out on tour again. Matthew recalled first seeing the film which was released back in 1948 is something which deeply inspired him. He explained: “The Red Shoes is considered by many people to be one of the most important and beautiful films ever made in the way the camera was used and the way it captured dance on film for many people for the first time. It is very influential and I saw it when I was very young. I didn’t really know anything about that world as I was more into musical theatre and film musicals. My parents didn’t go to the ballet.

“It was an introduction to an extraordinary world which was glamorous and eccentric and full of these larger-than-life characters. It was also this great story about people who spend their lives being creative, creating beautiful things and the passion they have to do that.”

Years later, Matthew decided The Red Shoes was a perfect piece to add his creative magic to. It tells the story of Victoria Page who loves to dance and has a fierce ambition to be the best she can be in her profession but this drive finds her at the centre of an emotional tug of war between the two men who inspire her.

“It was a challenge to tell the whole story of the human characters and the central love story and conflict. All those things have to be told through dance. It is bringing these things to a different medium. The larger-than-life emotions in The Red Shoes are good for dance. You are already on to a winner with those obsessive relationships and passion and conflict,” he said.

The music was also important to help bring out these themes and Matthew turned to Bernard Herrmann who composed the score to many Alfred Hitchcock movies. Matthew explained: “I found a lot of music in his back catalogue which was written for different films and which could be used to tell different aspects of the story.

“You have three areas of storytelling in The Red Shoes. You have the ballets the company performs, you have the life of the company and the life of the places they go and their atmosphere, and then you have the central love story and conflict between the girl who wants to be a great dancer and the impresario who wants her to devote her whole life to that and the young composer she falls in love with.”

While the love and passion remain at its core, Matthew believes it also tackles some very important themes. “It is not just about being famous. It is about the passion for the work. For these characters, the work is more important than anything else in their lives.

ethic against a relationship of some kind. That became a very universal thing about this story for our audiences and a story that resonated beyond the dance world. “A lot of people have that conflict in their lives between work and the relationships they are having whether it is their partners or other family members or their friends. I think that is where people can relate to this story.” The show also pays homage to the iconic film while creating something quite different. He said: “We did not just want to ape something that came before. We want to capture the essence, the spirit and almost the perfume of this film. It is a spellbinding piece and does that in your own way and find new ways of doing it. It tells the story in a uniquely theatrical way.” And he is keen to ensure the company get the mood, character and feel of the period exactly right particularly as it is very far away from day-today life now. He said: “They really have to do their research as it can be quite difficult for the young people of today to capture that era. The manners, the way the people are, their eccentricities and their concerns are all very different.” Equally Matthew is still fuelled, buoyed and enthused by this production along with Swan Lake which is touring the world and cinematic screenings of Romeo and Juliet which saw members of his company perform alongside the dance talent of tomorrow. He said: “Through those productions, we have introduced a very exciting range of new young talent to the country. I am really excited about that. Romeo and Juliet gave a lot of opportunities to develop younger members of my company to take on bigger roles and that is really serving as well now and will do for the future. The new talent is off the chart.” Where to see it… Birmingham Hippodrome 11th-15th Feb Bristol Hippodrome 3rd-7th March See www.newadventures.net for more dates.

Matthew Bourne’s THE RED SHOES. Ashley Shaw ‘Victoria Page’ and Company. Photo by Johan Persson.