By Rebecca Stanley
13 May 2019
Now Peter and the Wolf returns to the stage – but not quite as we know it. In a brand new production from Birmingham Royal Ballet, Peter is a girl.
The story has been transported from the Russian countryside of almost a century ago to a modern urban landscape, and it’s coming to Shrewsbury’s Theatre Seven, Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre, and Birmingham Hippodrome as part of its run.
“Why shouldn’t Peter be a girl?” asks the ballet’s choreographer and BRB First Artist, Ruth Brill.
“This feels like the right moment for the story to come back in a new form. Peter has a boldness and sense of playful fun and is an instinctive leader. I had certain dancers in mind to portray that, and they’re all girls. Why not? When I hear Peter’s music, I don’t think it’s particularly male.”
“While adults may question why Peter is a girl, I think most children will just accept it.”
While Sergei Prokofiev’s music and fable remain the same, our new interpretation has nine dancers playing a group of youngsters hanging out in ‘The Meadow’ and re-enacting the story of Peter and the Wolf using the scaffolding set.
Read the full article in the Shropshire Star.
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