The Red Shoes started life in the 19^th century as a very dark fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson.

In 1948 it was made into Powell and Pressburger’s seminal film winning numerous awards and starring Moira Shearer, Anton Wallbrook and Marius Goring.

It had always been a dream of Matthew Bourne’s to transfer The Red Shoes to the stage and in 2016 his dream came true but it was a dream  that was cut short by the pandemic.

But now Bourne has fine-tuned his original version and left out certain scenes and we have an emotive  work which concentrates and focuses more on the ballet’s characters.

Red Shoes is the story of young ballerina Victoria Page  (Cordelia Braithwaite) and the conflict between the romance in her life and her career ambitions to become a prima ballerina.

We see the glamorous world in front of the curtain and are introduced to the fraught and sometimes mysterious world that goes on behind the curtain.

Bourne is a master of story-telling and his characterizations of the players in this story are bordering on brilliance as is his choreography. He uses Bernard Herrman’s music to full effect to give a shivery and unnerving atmosphere.

You can almost feel the air of resentment and jealously within  the confines of the touring company mixed with the fun moments of the rivieria beach scene and the after show party – a mix of pure artistry with more dance styles than you could ever imagine.

The ballet follows Victoria’s journey when she takes over a leading role when she takes over from injured ballerina Irina Boronskaya. We experience how she’s torn between her love for struggling composer Julian Craster (Dominic North) and controlling and at times menacing ballet impresario Boris Lermontov  (Reece Causton) for the good of her career.

Les Brotherton’s sets are totally mind-  blowing in this play-with-a-play production. His gilded moving proscenium arch glides around the stage giving a backstage and a front of house view drawing the line between fact and fantasy where tragedy waits in  the wings.

Credit: Johan Persson

The Red Shoes is one of Bourne’s finest – it displays every emotion from pathos and drama to romance and lighter moments.

If you have never seen a Bourne production then you must and The Red Shoes is the crème de la crème of their repertoire.

Matthew Bourne’s production of The Red Shoes is at The Alhambra Theatre Bradford until Saturday 25^th April 2026. To book call 01274 432000 or visit Bradford-theatres.co.uk

Picture Cred Johan Persson