A Beautiful Ballet

What
Northern Ballet's The Little Mermaid

Where
Theatre Royal, Newcastle

When
7.30 pm, Tuesday 31st October 2017

Cost
Tickets from £14.50

One Word
Beautiful

Before It Started
I am a wonderful daughter, and I love to treat my mum. This was the third ballet we had been to, and her first with a live orchestra, so we were very excited for a fantastic night. Dinner then the ballet.

Unfortunately traffic was hectic and it took more than twice as long as usual to get in to town, so we didn't have time for dinner. What we did have time for was a quick drink at Lola Jean's down the road. We'd never been in the Newcastle Lola Jean's - only the Tynemouth one which we love - and we were very impressed by the service and the decor.

After our pre-ballet drinks we trotted around to the theatre, and while it was a little busy in the foyer it wasn't too bad and it was easy enough to get through the people.

First Impressions
Straight to the stalls bar to order our interval drinks! With a full bar and only two staff, service was a little slow, but the staff were lovely when they did serve us, and we got a bottle of wine to share at the interval, which would be waiting for us on a

Then to our seats - and boy had I picked some good ones. The only down side was someone who was easily six foot tall sat directly in front of use. We're both short enough to have to shop in the Petite section so it's always a bummer when someone super tall blocks the stage (or screen or view, tall people step back please!).

The Main Event
I was lost for words, completely speechless. It was so amazingly beautiful.

I always expect something wonderful from Northern Ballet, and I try to see them whenever they come far North enough (hint: it's never enough, and I'm still bitter Casanova didn't come up Proper North). And I was in no way disappointed.

From the music to the dance, the whole performance was exquisite. Watching, I was completely lost.

I love how the story flowed, how the narrative behind the dance undulated, changing pace like the sea in which it was set.

The choreography changed throughout, the style changing almost imperceptibly as the story moved from sea to land. The personality of each character shone through.

Overall
It exceeded our expectations, absolutely blew us away. It was a wonderful night and a beautiful performance.