★★★★☆
Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen is a story of contrasts. The archetypal battle between good and evil finds expression in the chill melancholy of the title character versus the innocence of the heroine, Gerda. The ugliness unleashed by the magic mirror is set against the purity of Gerda’s love for her childhood friend Kai.
In Scottish Ballet’s reworking of the fairytale the choreographer Christopher Hampson and the designer Lez Brotherston build on this structure of binary oppositions. The show’s prologue, set in the still, quiet surrounds of an ice palace, introduces us to a pair of sisters with dramatically different desires. Lexi, the Summer Princess (danced in the performance I watched by Grace Horler — there is a rotating cast), longs to take her chances in the outside world, to the disdain of her wintry sibling (danced by Roseanna Leney). When Lexi runs off regardless, the Snow Queen’s anger bubbles over into a quest for retaliation, setting in train the events that will lead to the enchantment of Kai.
It is an intriguing addition, one that has the effect of deepening the Snow Queen’s character beyond the unknowable malevolent spirit of lore without resorting to mawkish sentiment. As you would expect, there is much jagged precision in Leney’s footwork, and although the character is malign, the loneliness of her plight comes through in a tender second-half duet with Yuri Marques, dancing the role of Kai.
The production, which is touring, has been tightened up since its first performances in late 2019, just as Covid was beginning to cast its icy shadow across the world. Hampson has largely dispensed with Andersen’s episodic structure, including Gerda’s encounters on her way to the frozen north with helpful animals and birds, foregrounding instead a colourful band of travellers, magicians and tumblers.
The action is set to music by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, arranged and orchestrated by Richard Honner and taking in everything from The Snow Maiden to The Flight of the Bumblebee. If the narrative occasionally feels disjointed, there are joyous set pieces, such as the scene in the travellers’ encampment, all billowing sleeves, full skirts and unrestrained high kicks to the strains of the Capriccio Espagnol. The intricacy and loving attention to detail of Brotherston’s designs adds further vibrancy, interacting beautifully with Paul Pyant’s lighting and the performances.
To January 8, touring to February 4 (scottishballet.co.uk )