Dance East – Saturday 16th December 7.30pm and Sunday 17th December 2.30pm – see the Dance East Website for details and to book.
It’s Christmas eve in an imaginary Italian town and The Little Match Girl roams the streets in freezing cold weather, with just her final match keeping the chill away.
The Little Match Girl is guided up to the moon by a vision of her beloved grandmother and on the way she meets both kindness and cruelty in this sad story about hope, humanity and family.
Told through dance and song this show is based on the Hans Christian Andersen classic story, using the distinctive choreography of Arthur Pita and the atmospheric music of Frank Moon, with live music and effects supplied by Phil King, who greets the audience as they arrive. I adored the music, a mix of soundscapes and folk tunes, and the style of dance was a combination of ballet and traditional folk, with the dancers as light as air on their feet, at times as if they were flying.
This is an interesting and challenging piece of family theatre for the festive season, something different to the traditional pantomime or children’s plays on offer. It’s beautifully yet simply staged in hues of silvery white and grey, a sprinkling of frosty snow, like icing sugar, on the ground and always the impressive full moon looking down on the action.
Many of the themes in this story are so relevant to now; poverty, homelessness, and the divide of the haves and have nots in society, The Little Match Girl has the ability to entertain with humour and warmth, but makes you think and feel deeply as she experiences bullying, hate and derision.
This is a beautiful piece and at 65 minutes long with no interval a good way to introduce young people to dance, indeed I was delighted to hear many children exclaim as we all left, ‘ that was brilliant’ and ‘ I loved it’ – this may be a sad tale for Christmas but it warmed my heart.
The Little Match Girl by Ballo Arthur Pita for Dance East Saturday 16th December 7.30pm and Sunday 17th December 2.30pm – see the Dance East Website for details and to book.
About the production:
The Little Match Girl was originally co-commissioned by DanceEast and premiered there in 2013. It has since toured the UK and internationally and performed at Sadler’s Wells Lillian Baylis Studio for five Christmas seasons. The production was released as a digital film by Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage in 2022.
A co-production with DanceEast. Supported by Arts Council England.
SUFFOLK THEATRE 