Ballerina is smart, charming and beautiful, and an excellent role model for her friends. This delightful collection of stories transports viewers to a fantasy world where toys magically come to life, and learn invaluable lessons about friendship, caring and self-esteem. The Toy Castle is a critically acclaimed live-action series performed by members of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Narrative story telling, dance, music and mime combine to create a unique fantasy world that will unleash the power of the imagination.
"An enchanting introduction to the magic of the performing arts..."
This a delightful DVD for both children and adults. The scenery and the costumes are brilliantly colored and vibrant and are a true joy to behold. The dancers all have excellent classical ballet technique and are very charismatic and humorous. They are also masters of ballet mime which they use with great skill to convey the stories. The dancing and mime are seamlessly combined with the dialogue to convey the plot of each story and effortlessly teaches the language of ballet mime to the viewer, enhancing their understanding and enjoyment of any future ballet performances they may see. The story lines are engaging and well written and deal in a very positive and constructive way with the day to day problems in relationships that all children experience (i.e. loneliness, boredom, shyness, being left out, choosing between friends, settling arguments, etc.). The DVD also shows that ballet is not just "a girl thing" and that guys can have fun dancing ballet and still be masculine. I just regret that there isn't a second DVD of the series. I would love to see the dancing some of the other "castle characters" who appear in the opening of each story - like the frogs and the mouse! This DVD also taught me a wonderful saying to comfort any young dancer experiencing stage fright! "Your butterflies are here to dance WITH you!”
