"Even by fairy-tale standards ... stands out as especially bleak," said Dave Fargnoli in The Stage. "The Red Shoes" (1845) is about an orphan girl who is bewitched by a pair of red shoes, and ...

Choreographed by Australian-born Sir Robert Helpmann of the Royal Ballet Company, and partially conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham, the story is based on the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale of a young ...