All of the 100 unique hand-made costumes that were swiped half-way through a national ballet tour in Farringdon have been found following a media appeal.
Some £25,000 of lighting and sound equipment, staging, props and 100 bespoke costumes were taken when Ballet Central’s 3.5-tonne Luton hire van was pinched from a car park in the early hours of May 8.
Ballet Central in Herbal Hill is Central School of Ballet’s graduate performing company, and pupils are in the middle of its annual tour, created with top choreographers like Matthew Bourne. Performances of Black Swan and Cinderella began in March, and Bath is their next stop on Friday.
Devastated pupils were wondering how they could put on the show without their bespoke costumes, and seamstresses were working around the clock to make 100 more.
But thankfully a member of the public found the originals in a garage in Bromley-by-Bow nearby where the tour vehicle was last tracked.
Sadly the tour vehicle and lighting and sound equipment, dance floor staging and props are still missing.
Heidi Hall, the director of Central School of Ballet, said: “We are delighted that our costumes have been found following our appeal to Londoners.
“We have been overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness from all those that have offered to help our young people at Central.
“Although all the technical equipment and the van are still missing, we are working hard to be ready for our three sell-out Ballet Central performances in Bath this weekend. The show will go on!”
A Just Giving fund set up last week to help pay for stolen items has £11,540 in donations, and will help replace the remaining stolen articles.
The tour is the culmination of a three-year professional degree for the students, and is an opportunity for them to perform to ticket-buying audiences across the country. When choreographers and directors see them performing they will often clinch jobs.
Pupils as young as nine were also given the chance to join the tour after auditioning for a part. Anyone with information about the theft of the van with registration plate BV14 VCO is asked to call cops on 101.
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