REVIEW: "A Magical Dream" by the Trull School of Dancing

At the Trull School of Dancing's recent showcase spectacular, A Magical Dream,' audiences were treated to a feast of dancing in the ballet, tap and modern genres all dressed in magnificent, ever changing, costumes, both of which achieved a truly professional standard.

In every show the audiences were kept spellbound from the opening bars of music right through until the final elation of the grand finale.

It was easy to forget that it was children we were watching, so superb was the calibre of the show down to its smallest detail.

Two children, danced with great character throughout by Harriet Chinn and Rosemary Wakefield, are put to bed in their nursery and soon find themselves on a wonderful sightseeing adventure which begins in their bedroom as the lights go out and takes them through the streets of London to the magical west end.

It's a busy night as various characters and creatures make their appearance firstly in the nursery where they encounter enchanting tapping toy's, hard luck orphans, bone rattling skeletons, cheeky spiders popping out from all the nooks and crannies and golden fairies delicately spreading star dust.

Out on the streets they take in the night's sights.

A gracious flower seller, Amy Hallett, smells her wares as cats prowl midnight London's catacombs.

A flurry of ethereal snowflakes from amongst the school's senior ballet dancers was exquisite beyond words.

We gasped just as we would in the cold of a snowstorm.

Charming young tappers then danced around a lamp post.

The returning cats ran off as a crowd of London locals promenaded around the streets under the watchful eye of policeman Duncan Francis before all had to run from a sudden rain storm.

Just as he was leaving a lady of the night, Holly Preece, placed her delicate hand upon his shoulder and in a true high light of the show, a magnificent emotional Pas de Deux was performed by the pair with enormous sensitivity and several spectacular lifts.

Two high energy dances followed, a swirling Tarantella and an urban rock medley of fabulous pace and stylish choreography which catapulted the audience into a state of high expectation.

This only made the eerie call "Chill-dren" of the sinister, truly menacing child catcher, danced with fabulous drama by Duncan Francis, all the more menacing.

The vaguely gothic feel was carried through into the candlelit opening of the Riverdance which then erupted with true passion into an almost war like challenge, led with absolute precision and flair by the brother and sister duo of Annika and Duncan Francis.

The whole team advanced with relentless drive as if they might drive through into the very audience.

It was a spectacular ending to Act One.

In Act Two our two night time wanderers finally make it to the back stage of the Nutcracker Ballet.

They enter into a turning waving world of waltzing red flowers which demonstrated the sheer beauty of the changing kaleidoscope patterns of a ballet superbly.

A wonderful mini world tour via the stage followed.

We viewed cheeky Chinese, a superbly supple Arabian dance, performed by the bendy Linda Parish, the timeless beauty of the flute dance on pointe which was then juxtaposed beautifully with the high energy High School Musical' cheerleaders only for the audience to then be floated away by the ethereal Music of the Night' ballet.

Finally the Modern Millie's' came steaming in and led into the high energy show time fan dance All That Jazz.

'It had been a wonderful night out but their graceful guardian fairy, Suzan Opperman, must return them safely to the nursery.

Their return is not without incident as once again the dastardly child catcher and his two evil side kicks attempts to capture the children but they make it safely back and enjoy one more moment of magic as former pupil, Antoinette Brooks-Daw, visiting from the Royal Ballet, performs a cameo role as a music box fairy with exquisite balletic precision and grace.

The children excitedly tell their mother about all their night time dreams, (or were they adventures), before the most show stopping finale full of high energy, coordinated dancing, complete with silver dresses that literally blossom before our eyes, sent the audience home buzzing.

It was a truly fabulous show that once again demonstrates the superb efforts of everybody involved, from the dancers, the costume makers, the set designers and prop coordinators, the tireless parents, through to the fabulous teaching and choreography of the school's wonderful teachers, Esther Cheriton, Michele Brooks-Daw, Janet Ross, Ann-Marie Crampton and Natasha Huckle.

A show like this makes lifetime memories for so many people, thank you to all involved.

By Jill Berntsson

12:28pm Tuesday 8th April 2008

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