So much fun! Dancing human sized chickens that occasionally get in the way of the dance action and have to be booted away; Ruritanian folksy types who don't seem to farm but polka and polka some more; wilful daughter vs strong willed pantomime dame mother whose ego can be easily distracted by dancing; ribbons!!!!!!!!! a May pole; best being blown around by a storm scene ever and an odd/eccentric prospective son in law who's keen to get a bit of the dance action on his horsey umbrella and perhaps not so much his reluctant bride. If there are no ribbons to be found, then everybody clog dance! The unfortunate wedding denouement!
Steven McRae and Natalia Osipova are wonderful to watch, so full of energetic emotions, comic and romantic, with McRae ever on the look out for a kiss opportunity and Natalia's character to avoid the work her mother wants her to do and sneak off with her boyfriend. The dancing is quite something, especially when McRae is hoisting Osipova aloft, his face obscured by tutu and no-one staggers or gets dropped. Also the timing when Osipova is dancing amongst tangles of ribbons and artfully misses kicking a colleague or two in the face - placings and timings are immaculate. A special award must go to the Dame's tambourine playing and her very floppy bonnet (almost a stage presence in itself). Plus never let the daughter help with the spinning - serious health and safety issues taking place in that scene!
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