English Youth Ballet Swan Lake at The Hawth Crawley Review
English Youth Ballet
Swan Lake
The Hawth, Crawley
25-26 November 2016
Reviewed by Louise Watts
I took my 2 ballet mad daughters (aged 13 and 11 years) to see this performance of Swan Lake last evening at The Hawth in Crawley. They are keen dancers and are at currently Grade 7 and Grade 5 ballet themselves. They had been nagging me for ages to take them to see a ballet and were even more excited tonight as one of their school friends was performing.
The English Youth Ballet has been running now for 18 years and was initially set up to give young dancers around the country the opportunity to perform a full-length ballet. They perform 8 times a year in different cities and auditions are held for local children to perform. Children aged 8-18 are invited to audition.
The story of Swan Lake is a beautiful well known love story revolving around The Prince and Odette. He falls in love with Odette but is forbidden to marry her by his father as she is not a princess. True love prevails in the end but at the cost of the Prince’s life. It is a truly beautiful, dramatic story with a tragic ending.
From the moment the first set of dancers entered the stage, the quality, crispness and talent shone. It was lovely to see so many young dancers alongside the professionals dancing so amazingly. My 2 girls were in complete awe of these lucky children who had been given the opportunity to perform this ballet. Personally, I was pleased to see so many young boys performing as the stigma attached to boys’ ballet dancing is still around (unfairly). If I had been a parent or grandparent of any one of the children who performed, I would have been immensely proud!
The costumes were delightful and complimented the dancing perfectly. The dancers themselves showed commitment, pride and were clearly enjoying their roles. The younger children were beautifully in time and remembered all their moves. The slightly older children on pointe (although some still looked very young from where I was sitting), were just incredible. My eldest daughter does some work on pointe and was just amazed at the quality and how they all made it appear so easy when she knows that is not the case! They were amazed by the outstanding choreography and how everyone knew exactly where to be and how everyone kept time so beautifully.
We thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the ballet. The running time was just over 2 hours including a 20-minute interval and it was lovely to see a packed out auditorium with such a mix of ages. There were a large number of children which was lovely to see and then all ages through to the elderly – clearly proving that the ballet is for all ages. I could not find any fault in the way the children performed. It was a sheer delight to watch and experience.
The Hawth was as always well-equipped and all staff were friendly and professional. The bar staff as always were accommodating and the facilities were clean and fresh.
Overall, we would like to say what an incredible evening we had watching the talent of all these young, local dancers. My children would like to know when the next local auditions are and whether they can try to gain a place in the next local production!?
A 5* performance (absolutely no doubt about it!)
Rating: 5/5 
For more information on the English Youth Ballet and tour dates visit www.englishyouthballet.co.uk.
For other shows at The Hawth Theatre in Crawley visit www.parkwoodtheatres.co.uk.
The Hawth, Hawth Avenue, Crawley, Sussex, RH10 6YZ | 01293 553636
