One of the major dance productions cut short by the coronavirus crisis was Matthew Bourne’s tour of The Red Shoes, his rapturously received version of the Powell and Pressburger film. The UK tour, which had originally been due to finish on Saturday, has been cancelled. A cinema screening of the production has been rescheduled for September, but in the meantime Bourne’s company New Adventures unveiled a special 12-minute film version online, allowing the Red Shoes company “to say one final farewell, with a flourish”.
The Red Shoes from Home has been created by the cast of the show during lockdown and they perform among children’s toys in their living rooms, on tables, in gardens and backyards, and in the kitchen. While the original production won acclaim for Lez Brotherston’s sumptuous costume design, the dancers appear in football kit, homemade outfits and, in one case, a couple of towels.
Bourne said that although the film “came out of a sad loss”, it was important to the company “that we celebrated and created a lasting piece that would exist in its own right, out of lockdown”. He added: “We really wanted to capture all of the passion, talent, humour and personalities that make New Adventures so unique.”
With arts venues around the UK temporarily closed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the lockdown has already found dancers performing to online audiences from their own homes, whether it’s Tamara Rojo giving ballet classes from her kitchen or Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Céline Gittens performing The Dying Swan in her living room. Later this year, the BBC will present choreographer Corey Baker’s new take on Swan Lake, performed by an international lineup of dancers in their baths.
