Review: Newport's Ballet Cymru dare to DREAM

DREAM is a modern-day reinterpretation of one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays, A Midsummer Night's Dream.

And while this sometimes hilarious production brings characters and costumes bang up to date, it also manages to keep to the dream-like story involving fairies, confused love matches and criss-crossing relationships.

Choreography is by Ballet Cymru’s artistic directors Darius James OBE and Amy Doughty, and it captures perfectly the confusion, disorder and humour of the original text.

The stage setting is minimalist, but makes use of innovative video projections to take the audience from from leafy woodland to campsite, and even building site, with costumes to match.

With a score written and performed live from the corner of the stage by multi-award winning instrumentalist and composer Frank Moon, Ballet Cymru shows yet again that this group collaborates with people at the top of their game.

The dancers take on different guises throughout, but always perform with great skill, energy and vitality.

A truly uplifting performance across the board, which illustrates beautifully the joy of dance.

And as part of this innovative company’s determination to be truly inclusive and to open up dance to all, the evening curtain raiser was a short dance by pupils from Newport's Somerton Primary School who have been taking part in dance lessons under the company’s Duets programme.

They did their school proud.

There is another performance of DREAM tonight (Tuesday, June 28) and tomorrow afternoon at the Riverfront Theatre.

Alternatively, you can catch special performances in the gardens of Tredegar House on August 23, 24 and 25.