Ballet Theatre UK bring Beauty and the Beast to Brighton

“A big part of BT UK is the theatre section of it and the artistic director and the company manager are always thinking of new stories to tell,” Ewan says. “They are always innovating in how they can transfer something like Beauty and the Beast or the Wizard of Oz and to create a ballet out of it. This is a really, really enjoyable production and very different to your classical ballet. It doesn't feel like the traditional story that you get with the classics. It's a high-energy story and it's very fast-paced and it puts so much into such a short period of time.

“We started this tour in October this year and it reprises a production that was originally produced in 2018. I was in the original production. We created the full show in two months and since bringing it back we have had a lot of new costumes and new sets and it has really helped deliver the story to the fullest. We have got some new interchanging scenery and that helps tell the story as well.

“I think the technical team at BT UK have done an excellent job at making it so easy to follow what is happening. I think quite often unless you know the story that you're watching with a ballet some people can come out not really having understood what has happened but with this one I think we've done a great job at making the story clear.”

As Ewan says, some people might be a little bit hesitant to see a two-hour story without any spoken words but the point is we have all done it before: “The first language that we use before we can speak is all about movement and the body, after all!”

It comes as the company – and the rest of the world – emerge from the pandemic: “The pandemic was interesting to say the least. At first it felt like a bit of a little bit of a break and a holiday which for a dancer is very, very rare but the longer it went on, the harder it got. It became about finding the best facilities which you could possibly come up with when you're just in your kitchen, like attaching a disability aid just so that you've got something to hold onto when you are practising! It was just a question of finding a way to do something but I was lucky that I was also teaching. The s chool associated with BT UK has a degree course and I was able to do some teaching and choreographing which was great when we were able to come out a little bit. But it definitely feels different now. Quite often I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with ballet. I attempt to be the perfectionist in everything I do and that can be quite hard on your mind. But I think having had time away from it gives me a new appreciation of it. I'm definitely more grateful now to be able to do what I do after the pandemic. It has made me appreciate a lot more just being on the stage. I would not say that I am easier on myself but I'm definitely more appreciative of just being able to do this.”