The Red Shoes

The Red Shoes

The Red Shoes is a ballet adaptation of the famed tale of ambition, love and sacrifice. Danced with dramatic intensity, it emphasises emotion and momentum through movement, storytelling and vivid stagecraft.

Scottish Ballet stages it in their 2026 season, including a run at the Festival Theatre. It offers both drama and dance and invites reflection on art, passion and control.

Tour Dates

Based on the 1948 film and original fairytale, The Red Shoes explores themes of obsession, artistic pursuit and emotional conflict through ballet. The narrative follows a young dancer torn between love and the demands of art, with the cursed shoes as the locus of tension and tragedy.

Choreographic versions often feature strong visual design, expressive solos and dramatic ensemble sequences. The Scottish Ballet production continues a lineage of stage adaptations, bringing renewed attention to the story through contemporary staging. While its run in 2026 is venue-based rather than full touring, it stands as part of the larger dance repertory that audiences continue to revisit and reinterpret.