Review: Scenes from the Nutcracker and Variety, by the pupils of the Cecilia Hall Dance Centre of Malvern, at Number 8, Pershore.

CLASSSICAL ballet and young dancers are not always an easy combination on stage, but this was a superb, well-ordered show which never failed to entertain.

The large, non-raised stage of Number 8 really lent itself to imaginative, expansive choreography and the students of Cecilia Hall, from the very young to teenaged years and older, proved themselves more than equal to the opportunities.

The show, a presentation by the Malvern Dance Performance Group, played to a full house on Sunday May 22, and the interval division between the opening classic, The Nutcracker, and more modern dance was a pleasant contrast and well thought out.

To name individual dancers, for a show so accomplished, is perhaps a little unfair; but special mention must be made of Lily Dyde, who performed the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy superbly, on points, and young Henry Halford as Fritz also deserves a special mention.

The best dance, perhaps, was the Snowflake Scene, which was all grace and movement, and Elizabeth Owen as the Snow Queen provided the necessary gravity and focus.

On the strength of this show, the next production by Cecilia Hall can only be awaited with keen anticipation.