Curiously Charis

There is no ballet that conjures up the image of Christmas quite like The Nutcracker, and Northern Ballet’s version of the classic ballet is a festive delight. Premiering at Hull New Theatre on Wednesday, November 14, this classic ballet was brought to life through stunning performances, magical staging and a full orchestra performing Tchaikovsky’s mesmerising score. Though the dancing took centre stage - with spellbinding performances from the cast - the special touches such as a mechanical sleigh and snow falling, as well as the glittering costumes, really took the audience’s breath away. Featuring all the main characters, dances and music everyone has come to love, the show had an English twist on it, with the action set in a traditional Recency England home, rather than in Russia. Highlights of the show included the family’s Christmas brought to life with the whole cast taking to the stage for an energetic Christmas Eve party, with the fabulous ‘mechanical dancers’ whose limb

Hint: It's not usually like this for Goole Times reporters... So I'll start this post by saying I'm not really a court reporter, but being part of such a small team means you get to do so much different stuff. For example, Tuesday morning I was at the unveiling of some new playground equipment at a local primary school, then Tuesday afternoon I was at the scene of an attempted murder. That was an especially varied day! But I try to cover as much court as I can for the Goole Times. A few months ago I was speaking to a couple who had become the victim of a serious fraud and had wound up as witnesses in a crown court trial. They told me how surreal it was being in court, when they'd only ever seen court rooms on TV. This got me thinking about what a privilege it is to see the inner workings of the legal system, albeit from the slightly removed perspective of a reporter, to let you guys know what it's really like. On TV court is so dramatic. And someti

I get it. The clocks have gone back, it's cold outside, work is dull and there aren't the kind of fun things going on like barbecues and beach trips since summer ended. Sure, summer was amazing this year, plus the fine weather lasted well into October, and we're all sad to see it finish. But why all of a sudden does that make November 1st the start of the Christmas period? What happens between summer and winter? Why is the whole autumn period just something we have to endure between the summer holidays ending and the Christmas holidays beginning? I walked into Tesco on Thursday morning and all the Halloween stuff had been replaced with Christmas decorations and wrapping paper! But the food has been in the shops since the end of summer. Everyone who knows me knows I like to be organised and do things early and I do normally start preparing for Christmas in November - stuff like buying a few presents and planning my decorations, maybe thinking of some nice things