Ella’s Big Chance: A Jazz-Age Cinderella is a rip-roaring triumph

Gina Harris-Sullivan as Ella and Toby Gray as Buttons in Ella's Big Chance: A Jazz-Age Cinderella

London Children's Ballet in Kristen McNally's Ella's Big Chance: A Jazz-Age Cinderella

Eve Schwarz as the Flapper Girl in Kristen McNally's Ella's Big Chance: A Jazz-Age Cinderella

London Children's Ballet in Kristen McNally's Ella's Big Chance: A Jazz-Age Cinderella

Gina Harris-Sullivan and Jude Illing in Ella's Big Chance: A Jazz-Age Cinderella

By Graham Watts, 07 July 2025

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“The maturity of these performers was remarkable given their youth!”

Reviewed at Sadler's Wells: Peacock Theatre, London on 4 July 2025

Ella's Big Chance: A Jazz-Age Cinderella (Kristen McNally)

London Children's Ballet

Philip Hesketh, Conductor

Carrie-Ann Stein, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Mark Jonathan, Lighting Designer

Jonathan Watkins’ A Single Man pierces the heart at the Linbury

Deborah Weiss, 8th September

Jonathan Watkins’ A Single Man is a compelling piece of dance theatre and a magnificent vehicle for the leading characters to shine as dancers and actors.

****1

Ballet Central at the Linbury: keen to prove its versatility

Deborah Weiss, 17th June

Ballet Central provides an extremely varied programme of new and old, classical and contemporary dance, with plenty of aplomb.

***11

Wheeldon’s Alice: The Royal Ballet shines in a vehicle of excellence

Amanda Jennings, 13th June

Christopher Wheeldon's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland shows off The Royal Ballet's roster of supreme dance actors in every version of technical wizardry and comic incarnation.

****1

The RB's Romeo and Juliet: electrifying on-stage chemistry

Deborah Weiss, 5th May

A compelling performance of MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet from an excellent cast, proves to be a triumph for Patricio Revé, debuting with the Company and paired with Natalia Osipova.

*****

Naghdi’s Juliet pierces the heart as MacMillan’s masterpiece returns

Mark Pullinger, 4th March

“But, soft, what light through yonder window breaks?” Yasmine Naghdi reaches new interpretative depths in this revival of Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s classic Romeo and Juliet.

****1

The Royal Ballet’s Light of Passage: mesmerisingly beautiful

Amanda Jennings, 20th February

Overall, Light of Passage is one of those glorious pieces where music, choreography and design meld together to make theatrical magic.

*****

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Graham Watts

Graham Watts is a freelance dance writer and critic writing regularly for Dancing Times, Dance Europe, Danza Europa, and many more publications. He regularly writes features for Sadler’s Wells, London Coliseum and La Scala. Chairman of the Dance Section of the Critics’ Circle in the United Kingdom and of the UK National Dance Awards he has interviewed many of the greatest names in dance including Maya Plisetskaya, Vladimir Vasiliev, Boris Eifman, Alexei Ratmansky, Andris Liepa, Sir Peter Wright, David Bintley and Dame Gillian Lynne. When not involved in dance Graham is a keen fencer, and has captained the British Sabre team.

London Children’s Ballet: Ella’s Big Chance: A Jazz-Age Cinderella is a rip-roaring triumph