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Music by
Sergey Prokofiev
Choreography
by
Frederick
Ashton
Staging by
Christopher
Carr
Sets by
Toer van
Schayk
Costumes by
Christine
Haworth
Orchestra
of the Royal Opera House
conducted by
Boris Gruzin
Cinderella
Alina Cojocaru
The Prince
Johann Kobborg
Cinderellas
step-sisters
Anthony Dowell
Wayne Sleep
Cinderellas
father
Christopher
Saunders
Fairy
Godmother ***
Dancing Master
Joshua Tuifua
Fairy Spring
Christina
Elida
Salerno
Fairy Summer
Lauren Cuthbertson
Fairy Autumn
Laura Morera
Fairy Winter
Marianela
Nunez
Jester
Jose Martin
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The Royal Ballet
Covent Garden
2
December 2004
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Cinderella
is the archetypal magical
romance. One can imagine clever
post-modern revisions of it;
but they would be false to
its essence. There is no denying
that both Sergey Prokofiev
and Frederick Ashton elected
themselves servants rather
than would-be masters of the
tale, making the most of every
possibility of sentiment and
delight. Their vision is wonderfully
realised in this superb staging,
which is, quite literally,
beautiful: the costumes, sets
and special effects are breathtaking,
and above all: for this is
the central thing the dancing
is exquisite.
Alina Cojocaru seems to have
been born for this role, and
Johann Kobborg performing
in the presence of the Queen
of Denmark, his native land,
on the opening night made
a charming and princely figure.
Alina Cojocaru shows herself
an excellent actress as well
as dancer in this role, which
might had been made on her,
so apt is she in figure and
expressiveness for it. In
the first act, establishing
the harshness of Cinderellas
circumstances and the sweetness
of her disposition, Ashton
used every nuance of his genius
to paint an exact psychological
portrait exact and exacting:
for to dance this complex
depiction of a state of affairs
and a character, rather than
a sequence of events, takes
special talent. This Cojocaru
has. The fit between Ashtons
choreography and her dancing
is accordingly perfect.
If Cojocarus dancing and acting
constitute one highlight of
the production, the comic
performances of Anthony Dowell
and Wayne Sleep as the ugly
step-sisters provide the other.
These roles have to be a delight
to play, and it is obvious
that Dowell and Sleep enjoy
themselves hugely. The pleasure
taken by composer and choreographer
in these absurd, tyrannical,
unpleasant and ludicrous figures
is evident, and the very thought
of them seems to have unbottled
the full flow of Ashtons wit.
The principals are more than
ably supported by seasonal
fairies, a fairy godmother,
and a corps de ballet all
on good form, giving Ashtons
imaginative world a rich embodiment.
The brilliant costumes and
sets were integral to making
the whole a dazzling spectacle,
and nothing in either performance
or design took anything away
from any aspect of it.
The Cinderella story is a
gift for ballet, offering
the contrast of the poor kitchen
with the spectacular ball-room,
and in this latter opening
an immense imaginative space
for a feast of dance. The
impression left by Prokofievs
score is of an extended waltz,
circling into the empyrean
as an endless melody of rhythm,
carrying along with it the
sparkling fairy-dust of love
as a reward for virtue. At
the end I shall not say quite
how, for the staging of the
ending must not be given away
the production makes up for
the lack, lamented by some
but really not a lack at all
of a grand closing pas de
deux.
Given that the Cinderella
tale is in itself a deeply
satisfying one, a classic
rendition of it has to feed
the satisfaction further.
The Prokofiev-Ashton does
this in spades. The result
is pure, unmixed pleasure.
AC Grayling |
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