At the Ballet

We went to see a performance of Inland Pacific Ballet's "The Little Mermaid" at the Redlands Bowl last night.

I was very impressed with the performance -- lovely staging and costumes, excellent dancing.  The designer's use of the set was very clever, and the music was woven seamlessly from pieces by Ravel, Debussy, Britten, Vaughan Villiams, Dvořák, and Leoš Janáček.  I felt that the second act didn't quite live up to the first, as most of the drama and spectacle were in the first, including this splendid villainess --

I actually loved the original ending of the story, and so although not entirely disappointed by the "surprise ending" promised by this company, thought that they actually didn't make enough of it in their version.

But the girls were enchanted, and I recommend the production as a lovely family evening.

All photos by E.Y. Yanagi from the IP website.