Scottish Ballet’s The Snow Queen in Edinburgh

Alice Kawalek as The Ballerina and Thomas Edwards as The Strongman in Hampson's The Snow Queen

Scottish Ballet in Christopher Hampson's The Snow Queen

Bruno Micchiardi as Kai and Kayla-Maree Tarantolo as Gerda in The Snow Queen

Bruno Micchiardi as Kai and Jessica Fyfe as The Snow Queen in The Snow Queen

Jessica Fyfe as The Snow Queen and Bruno Micchiardi as Kai in The Snow Queen

Snow Wolves in Christopher Hampson's The Snow Queen

Kayla-Maree Tarantolo as Gerda and Grace Horler as Mazelda in The Snow Queen*

By Kathy Elgin, 02 December 2025

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“Happy ever after? Well, who knows, but certainly less vengeful!”

Reviewed at Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Edinburgh on 27 November 2025

The Snow Queen (Christopher Hampson)

Scottish Ballet

Lez Brotherston, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Paul Pyant, Lighting Designer

Scottish Ballet Orchestra

Jessica Fyfe, Dancer

Bruno Micchiardi, Dancer

Kayla-Maree Tarantolo, Dancer

Melissa Polson, Dancer

Scottish Ballet’s Starstruck: plenty of pzazz in Glasgow

Kathy Elgin, 16th April

Christopher Hampson’s newly updated Starstruck is thoroughly entertaining with sexy solos, classical pas de deux and lines of perfectly-timed Broadway hoofing.

****1

Scottish Ballet's Nutcracker: brimming with Christmas magic

Kathy Elgin, 6th December

In the third revival since 2014, Peter Darrell's 1973 Nutcracker still has all the right ingredients to send the audience home feeling joyous.

*****

Scottish Ballet's Cinders! confirms Hampson is a savvy theatre-maker

Kathy Elgin, 13th December

Christopher Hampson's reinvented version of his own original Cinderella, Cinders!, is a triumph of theatre, whether the central character is danced by a man or a woman.

****1

Twice-Born: Scottish Ballet opens the season in bold, balanced style

Kathy Elgin, 21st September

Clearly on a mission to prove that today’s dance world comprises many styles that feed into and refresh each other, Scottish Ballet starts as it means to go on.

****1

“Starstruck” Scottish Ballet brings back Gene Kelly ballet back

Graham Watts, 24th September

Gene Kelly's only ballet has been revived by Christopher Hampson, with an excellent twist.

****1

Icy worlds collide in Scottish Ballet's euphoric Secret Theatre

Graham Watts, 21st December

Jess and Morgs continue to break the mould of tired dance films by directing their first full-length feature, which offers much more than just a different way of presenting dance.

*****

More reviews...

Kathy Elgin

After a career in publishing, Kathy Elgin turned her enthusiasm for dance into a real job by joining the late, great John Percival, Dance Critic of The Times, in his re-launch of Dance and Dancers magazine in 1981. She was later delighted to join its rival, The Dancing Times, as Scottish correspondent until the magazine’s sad demise in 2022. She lives in Edinburgh.

Scottish Ballet’s The Snow Queen: spectacle, excitement and some thrilling choreography