The Canterville Ghost is a good children's ballet, and almost a very good one. It's based on the novella by Oscar Wilde about the American Otis family who buy an old English house, complete with ghost (James Streeter), and proceed to subdue him, and redeem him, with their rude good health - and their true, pure-hearted daughter Virginia (Elena Glurdjidze).
It's easy to think that children are more easily pleased than grown-ups, but tots know as well as anyone that a ballet needs a clear story pacily told, as well as nice sets and costumes, and pretty music and dancing.
And the dancing in Ghost is lovely. Will Tuckett has created appealing solos and duets, and is a dab hand at group scenes. Supper in the haunted dining room, the bicycle outing, and the tennis party are especially well done.
Also praiseworthy are the period sets and costumes (excepting the ghosts which are a tad too Spandex for my shilling), and a nice short length (two hours is enough for youngsters).
Less good are several lags in pace, distracting stage effects (curtains up, curtains down, props on, props off), and some scrappy, over-detailed storytelling, which hints of padding.
Last, the pre-recorded narration. One-time Doctor Who Tom Baker booms out the plot, which seems a failure of the choreography to fully tell the tale.
Tuckett would argue that the story isn't all that well known, but you could say that of lots of lesser-known ballets (Manon, Mayerling, Don Q, Bayadere) that don't have a voice-over.
English National Ballet: The Canterville Ghost
