where to take my 5yr old to see ballet?

[unfitmummy]

we live in salisbury and my daughter does ballet and loves it. i really want to take her to see a production but don't know where, and preferably it wouldn't be too expensive. anyone got any ideas. i can get into london or the otherway towards bristol/bath. i am also in edinburgh in august so if there is anything there or glasgow that might work.

hoping you can help.
thanks

To be honest I think you need to find a short ballet aimed specifically at children. Most ballets run for about 2 and a half hours which is a long time for a 5 year old, especially when there is no dialogue and she made need some storytelling to help explain what is happening on stage.

The English National Ballet have toured twice now with their take on Angelina Ballerina, and every year The Snowman is at the Peacock Theatre in London. Whilst this still has a running time of nearly two hours it is a child friendly production and will be filled with families and talking children!

Hopefully someone will come along with more useful information, but maybe you could join mailing lists of your local theatres to see what productions are coming near you this year.

We took DD (5 last November) to see The Nutcracker on Boxing Day and it was fine - she loved it. If your DD really loves ballet, I expect she will be fine with a proper performance, rather than a short one.

we took her to see the snowman a couple of years ago and she sat spellbound through the whole show so i think she will manage a full performance. i will make sure she knows the story beforehand - we have a book which gives the story of each of the main ballets which we like to read so shall hopefully be in there!

no ideas of cheap places to see ballet?

I'll second the Nutcracker. Took dd there when she was 4. Such a magical stage set and performance, she was mesmerised throughout.

Would you consider taking her to see the English Youth Ballet? They put on productions of well known ballets such as Giselle and the Nutcracker across the country and tickets are far cheaper.

http://www.ballet.org.uk/cinderella/cinderella-booking.html This?

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thanks everyone. cinderella does look fab, and she would at least know the story! i will also look into the english youth ballet - cheaper tickets would be good!

You don't necessarily need to look for a short production aimed at children. I took my DD, who was then 3, to see the local ballet school's production of The Nutcracker last summer and she enjoyed it so much that I took her to see The Sleeping Beauty at St David's Hall in Cardiff as a Christmas treat. It was over 2hrs long, but she sat spellbound through the whole thing! It wasn't very expensive either, I think my ticket was £12.50 and hers was £6.25.