Birmingham Royal Ballet: Beauty and the Beast @ Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

Choreographed by the company's director, David Bintley, this two-act piece was first shown in 2003 and has been revived ahead of Bintley stepping down from the company later this year. The production, which is true to the original story, tells the classical gothic fairytale of a cruel Prince who is cursed and turned into a Beast for hunting a Vixen, and his entire household is turned into wild animals. Only the love from the selfless Beauty is his salvation from eternal solitude. 

The connection and contrast between the human and animal world heavily influence the choreography in this ballet. The stunning pas de deux in Act One between Belle (Delia Mathews) and the Beast (Tyrone Singleton) playfully involves the Beast gently stroking Belle with his head. 

Everything about this production is grand and exquisite, from the lavish bookcase at Beauty’s family home, to the majestic ball at the Beast’s castle in Act Two to Glenn Buhr’s extraordinary score performed by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia. Designer Philip Prowse doesn’t miss a trick in bringing the magic alive in this production’s set, and while there are no singing tea pots or dancing candle sticks, there is enchantment in the candles lighting by themselves at the Beast’s castle as well as in a chair with arms that wrap themselves around Belle’s father while he sleeps.

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Beauty and the Beast is a majestically classical re-telling of a timeless unconventional love story. It works so beautifully as a ballet as the music, costumes and exquisite dancing add to the magic. This infectious performance should leave the hardest of hearts on an emotional high.

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Birmingham Royal Ballet: Beauty and the Beast @ Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, run ended