Could there have been a dry eye when the curtain fell on Miyako Yoshida's farewell performance in Frederick Ashton's Cinderella (Covent Garden 23 April)? It defies belief that such radiant artistry and technical perfection marks the end of a long career. Yoshida will dance with Birmingham Royal in Japan later this year, but this was her last performance with the Royal Ballet in London. The standing ovation, the gasp of delight when the curtain went up on the spectacular floral tributes, the mass of bouquets, and the storm of flowers raining down from the balconies said it all. To take her final calls Yoshida had to pick her way through a carpet of flowers, escorted by her Prince Charming, Stephen McRae, making an unscheduled but impressive appearance. McRae soars through the air and cuts a fine princely figure throughout the ballroom scene. His pursuit of true love at first sight is as ardent as one could wish for.
      But it was Yoshida's night. Her smile could light up the West End. More than in any other Ashton ballet, the expression of ecstatic love is sublime. We have to believe that Cinderella really is going to live happily ever after. Yoshida carries us away with her into such a heavenly realm. Her variation in the ballroom scene was technically thrilling, circling the stage twice with diamond-cut pirouettes, a perfect line, but above all musical, capturing all the lyricism in Ashton's choreography and the bitter sweet fantasy element in Prokofiev's score. The audience responded with explosive admiration. This was the last time we would see Yoshida dance solo. We knew we were watching a great ballerina give her all in a glorious performance, perhaps one of the finest performances in recent times. The fast, nimble footwork in the opening "kitchen scene" (strangely set in a dining room in this production), sets the standard for this ballet. The transformation into a grand ballerina in the ballroom scene surpassed all expectations. Do I wax lyrical? Just give me the space and I'll go on.
      Yoshida sprang from the Royal Ballet School in 1984 and was promoted to Principal in 1988. Championed by Sir Peter Wright, who personally presented her with a bouquet at this performance, she first danced with the Birmingham Royal Ballet. She moved to Covent Garden in 1995. Since 2007 she has been a principal guest artist. All through the performance the thought that this was a closing moment in such a great dancer's career was almost unbearable. I vividly remember her Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, lyrical and poetic in the white acts and demonic and technically stunning in the Black Swan pas de deux (not all ballerinas do both with so much success), giving us glittering 32 fouettes in even later years. We all have our favourites and Yoshida was always one of mine.
Max Farber