The Red Shoes Ballet Suite
The Red Shoes Ballet Suite is music created for the dance theater Ballet of the Dolls’ production “The Red Shoes,” produced in 2001 and 2002. The show is based on the 1948 movie The Red Shoes, directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger in 1948, which incorporates Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale about a young girl’s love of dance.
In Hans Christian Andersen’s tale a shoemaker presents her with a magic pair of dance shoes at a street festival, and dance takes control over her when she puts on the shoes. She continues to dance until exhaustion, and can only stop when her feet are chopped off. In “The Red Shoes” movie authoritarian ballet company Director Boris Lermontov rules over his protégés, demanding complete submission to his rules, which include not allowing personal relationships to interfere with their art. He brings a new dancer, Victoria Page, into the company, and cultivates her to play the leading role in their new ballet, The Red Shoes, composed by the company’s resident composer, Julian Craster. Victoria falls in love with Julian, creating a conflict of tragic proportions between Vicky, Julian, and Lermontov. Vicky’s internal conflict between her passion for dance and her love for Julian leads her to commit suicide.
The original production of Ballet of the Dolls’ “The Red Shoes” was produced at the Ritz Theater in Northeast Minneapolis in 2001, and was re-envisioned and produced at Theatre de la Jeune Lune in 2002.
Credits
Composer: Craig Harris
Sound Design: Craig Harris
Piano: Tom Linker
Violin: Gary Schulte
Voices: Bradley Greenwald, Julie Tehven
© 2002
Copyright by Interference Arts
All rights of the producer and of the owner of the work reproduced reserved.
Unauthorized copying, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting of this material prohibited.
| Image | Name | Description & Audio Preview | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Red Shoes Ballet Suite - Music Compilation | The Red Shoes Ballet Suite – compilation of music by Craig Harris composed for Ballet of the Dolls’ dance theater production The Red Shoes. Excerpts for each movement are provided in the individual track list below. Sound tracks are available for download as a compilation or as individual tracks in mp3 format (great for general music listening), or in wav format (high resolution listening and public presentation). The physical CD includes the music from Craig Harris’ Sleeping Beauty Ballet Suite. | $18.00 | |
 | Ballet Performance and Reception, from The Red Shoes Ballet Suite | The ballet company presents a new work, followed by a reception where a young composer claims the music to be his composition; the prima ballerina announces that she is going to get married; and a young dancer is introduced to the authoritarian company director. | $2.00 | |
 | Irina's Swan Song, from The Red Shoes Ballet Suite | Prima Ballerina Irina dances her last ballet with the company after announcing plans to get married. | $2.00 | |
 | Vicky's Matinee, from The Red Shoes Ballet Suite | In “Vicky’s Matinee” new company member Victoria Page gets her opportunity to dance her first solo. | $2.00 | |
 | Julian and Vicky pas de deux, from The Red Shoes Ballet Suite | In “Julian and Vicky pas de deux” composer Julian Craster and prima ballerina Victoria Page fall in love while preparing the company’s new ballet, The Red Shoes Fairy Tale. | $2.00 | |
| Red Shoes Fairy Tale, from The Red Shoes Ballet Suite | The dance company’s production of The Red Shoes Fairy Tale premieres, with Vicky performing the lead role, and Julian conducting his new score. | $2.00 | |
 | Trio Triage, from The Red Shoes Ballet Suite | Following the success of Vicky’s premiere performance in The Red Shoes Fairy Tale, she is torn between her love for Julian and her passion to be a great dancer. Director Lermontov pressures Vicky to dance. | $2.00 | |
 | Vicky Dies, from The Red Shoes Ballet Suite | Vicky reaches a state of complete distress and confusion, and throws herself in front of a train. | $2.00 | |
 | Fairy Tale Reprise, from The Red Shoes Ballet Suite | In “Fairy Tale Reprise” the show must go on, and the ballet company proceeds to present The Red Shoes Fairy Tale without Vicky, in her honor and memory. | $2.00 |
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