Ballet is Strictly a night of Gershwin

Strictly Gershwin is a journey through ballet, tap and ballroom dancing.

It was premiered at the Royal Albert Hall in 2008 and is performed by the English National Ballet.

Gershwin’s timeless classics are combined with Derek Deane’s choreography and Roberta Guida di Bagno’s designs to conjure up the Hollywood genius and glamour of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

A 50-piece jazz orchestra will play while the 67 dancers tap, twirl, jete and glide their way through a series of Gershwin classics.

Act One ends with a recreation of the Hollywood classic An American in Paris and Act Two opens with Rhapsody in Blue.

The latter is a spectacular ballet with the full company of dancers dressed in glittering crystal encrusted midnight blue costumes.

Other Gershwin classics to be performed include Summertime, Fascinatin’ Rhythm, The Man I Love, Lady Be Good, S Wonderful and Strike Up the Band.

The music has been arranged by Gareth Valentine, whose previous work includes the West End shows Porgy and Bess, Sinatra and Wicked.

Strictly Gershwin will be performed at Milton Keynes Theatre from Tuesday, November 15 to Saturday, November 19.

Shows start at 7.30pm each evening. There is also a 2pm matinee on the Thursday and a 2.30pm matinee on the Saturday.

Tickets cost from £10 to £43 plus a booking fee and are available from the box office on 08448 717652 or online at www.atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes

If you want to learn more about the show before booking you can go to the website and select Strictly Gershwin.

Then click on sights and sounds to see a short video of excerpts from the show.