Theatre - The most spectacular show this year - and the stars are schoolchildren writes Michael Portillo Safahr: telling tales of a journey Hippodrome, Birmingham B5

It cannot be often that a child with Down's syndrome or autism gets to dance before an audience of 1,800 people. The Birmingham Hippodrome was filled on 10 March for Safahr: telling tales of a journey, performed by children from local schools choreographed and trained by professionals from the Birmingham Royal Ballet. The children's ages ranged from three to 15, and some of them had severe learning difficulties, completely integrated in a lively production with a vigorous musical score directed by Dinos Aristidou.

The schools worked on every aspect of the production over roughly 18 months. In it, "shoe-tellers" make shoes that they exchange for stories. The idea was inspired by some of the Birmingham children, who recounted that at weddings in Pakistan youngsters steal the bridegroom's shoes, which he must recover with a ransom if he is to leave with his bride.

The costumes were based on the children's designs, and some of the music for the performance was recorded during workshop sessions at the schools. Those contributions were woven into Peter McGowan's score and the schools' musical efforts were supplemented in the pit by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia.

The shoetellers' children are left behind in the village. When a stranger appears among them, they vilify her for being shoeless, which they equate with being unclean. Unfortunately for them, the "outlander" is the Keeper of the Skies, who exacts her revenge by extinguishing the stars that would light the way home for those adult shoetellers who are out in the world harvesting tales. The youngsters have to embark on a physical and moral journey. Along the way, they make and learn from many mistakes. They set out believing that they can placate the Keeper of the Skies by presenting her with a special pair of shoes that would enable her to conform to their dress code. When they finally arrive at their destination, she angrily rejects the gift, and at last it dawns on the travellers that when they reach her land, it is they who must show humility by removing their shoes, respecting customs that are different from their own.

The material reflects numerous cultural influences familiar to Birmingham's ethnic groups. Parents who do not speak any English became integrated in the production, proving to be valuable sources of traditional tales. At one point the travellers are lured into a celebration. The party-makers are dressed in colourful tunics and trousers (salwar kameez) and their limbs are decorated with flowers of Mehndi design. At the height of the festivities the revellers fool the shoetellers by turning into djinns or ghosts. Luckily, the travellers receive a lot of help from Ibn Batuta (a real figure from history), a Muslim from Tangier who in the 14th century journeyed even further than his better-known contemporary Marco Polo.

At the matinee, the audience was almost as interesting as the events on stage, with a child in almost every seat. Audience participation was continuous and enthusiastic. Noisy children who would not normally be welcome in a theatre fitted in fine on this occasion. The dazzling finale, designed by Birmingham Royal Ballet's artistic director, David Bintley, was interrupted by frequent applause. It deserved it. Every child involved in the production was on stage, somehow co-ordinated into a complex series of moves that was accomplished with aplomb. As for the minority of adults in the audience, we dabbed at our eyes, moved by an extraordinary spectacle and because we realised how great an achievement it was for some of those performers.

The leads were taken by the eldest children from Queensbridge Performing Arts College, their amplified voices carrying well above the almost continuous swell from the orchestra. Nilofar May, playing the youngest traveller, Tutu, showed great potential, particularly with her graceful dance movements. Queensbridge is co-located with Fox Hollies, a school for children with severe learning difficulties, and the joint working evidently benefits pupils from both establishments.

The schools and the professionals from the ballet company were brought together by the Creative Partnerships scheme, financed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and run through the Arts Council of England. The scheme links professional creative talent of all kinds to youngsters. The Safahr project had a long gestation period and cost about £120,000, largely for the time that the dancers spent working up the show with the school communities. The value of such spending will always be hard to measure. Clearly the children involved with the production had gained a lot, and it was easy to believe that there were wider benefits for the schools as a whole, and for the ballet company's professionals.

I felt fortunate to witness what will undoubtedly be one of the most remarkable shows to play in Britain this year.

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