91Èȱ¬

What could be more festive than a trip to the ballet? This year you can experience all the magic of a stunning debut production from the comfort of your own home.

A world premiere, the sumptuous version of the much-loved fairy tale, The Snow Queen — the story which inspired Disney's Frozen — was filmed in December 2019 as part of the Scottish Ballet's 50th anniversary.

A glittering winter tale celebrating love, friendship and the festive season, gather the family around for a brrrr-illiant holiday treat on Christmas Eve at 7.30pm on 91Èȱ¬ Scotland and afterwards on 91Èȱ¬ iPlayer.

Here we treat you to a sneak peek of how the ballet looks frozen in time.

Twenty-eight-year-old principal dancer, (left) is originally from France, studied ballet in England but has settled in Scotland. She has been with Scottish Ballet for 10 years and is also a qualified yoga instructor for her fellow dancers. In the image above the Snow Queen captures Kai under her icy spell.

The Snow Queen was designed by the award-winning set and costume designer, Lez Brotherston who described his job to the Scottish Ballet website: "The audience must know who a character is by what they look like. If they need to look at the programme to decipher what’s going on, the designer hasn’t done their job."

In the scene above we see the the Snow Wolves stopping Gerda from reaching the Ice Palace.

At the tender age of eleven, Grace Horler (right), who plays the fortune teller Mazelda in The Snow Queen, had to choose between training as an Olympic rhythmic gymnast or dedicating herself to ballet. Looks like she chose well.

Meanwhile, Jerome Anthony Barnes, who plays the Lead Bandit, told his Twitter followers: "Love every moment on stage with @gracehorler."

Alice Kawalek (left) from Leigh, England, has been with Scottish Ballet for two years and names Freddie Mercury as one of her inspirations. She told the Scottish Ballet website she likes Scotland's warm spirit and cold weather.

Evan Loudon, seen here as the Strongman, is an Aussie. He started ballet when he was 7 years old after a family friend and ballet enthusiast saw how he jumped puddles and nagged his mother into enrolling him in ballet classes.

Kai is played by Andrew Peasgood who was born in Lincolnshire, England and joined Scottish Ballet in 2010. In 2015 he spoke to Radio Scotland's Bryan Burnett about his dancing career.

He told Bryan he and the other dancers love to play 5 aside football with one another to let off steam. For a therapeutic hobby Andrew took up watch repair!

The Snow Queen takes audiences from a bustling winter’s market, through a fairytale forest, and into the icy realms of the Snow Queen’s palace. The production includes a colourful cast of characters dressed in a total of 111 custom-made costumes, from a circus ringmaster and his troupe to dancing snowflakes and, of course, the dazzling Snow Queen herself.

Set to the music of Russian composer Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, the specially adapted score by Richard Honner is performed live by the full Scottish Ballet Orchestra. One highlight will be an on-stage violin solo, set to send shivers down audiences’ spines as the choreography, design and music come together for dramatic effect.

Watch Lily's story in Five Wishes

Christopher Hampson, who adapted The Snow Queen for the stage said: ‘Unpicking this fairytale to bring out its most compelling characters and focusing on their journeys has been a rewarding process. Working with the brilliant Lez Brotherston, we have reimagined the story in a spectacular new world and I hope it will entertain and delight audiences of all ages.'

The Snow Queen will provide the stage for the culmination of Scottish Ballet’s Five Wishes campaign, which has seen the company make wishes come true across Scotland in 2019 as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations.

The Five Wishes story was followed by 91Èȱ¬ Scotland for a special documentary of the same name that will be broadcast on 91Èȱ¬ One (Scotland) on Monday 23 December at 7pm and will be repeated on Wednesday 25 December on 91Èȱ¬ Scotland at 7pm.

The Snow Queen arrives on our screens at 7.30pm on Christmas Eve.