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The clock strikes midnight with Momoko Hirata as a distraught Cinderella watching the hands converge and Joseph Caley as the confused, unknowing Prince looking on. Pictures: Bill Cooper Cinderella
Birmingham Royal Ballet
***** LIKE a fine wine David Bintley’s vision
of the fairy tale classic has matured over time into a classic of its
own. Time flies, as Cinders knows only too well, and
it hardly seems possible that we sat and watched the ballet’s world
premiere way back in 2010, a gift marking BRB’s 20 years in the city
incidentally. It was a fine production then but time, and I
suspect a few tweaks along the way, have made it even better, led this
time by BRB’s own MoJo, with the delightful Momoko Hirata as Cinderella
and the always youthful Joseph Caley making it all look so graceful and
easy.
Bintley’s Cinderella is a much darker affair than
we are used to, going back to fairy tales rather than panto with its
ugly sisters and Buttons, a good reason to keep it away from the festive
season. It opens with the funeral of Cinder’s mum and the
first hint that stepmother and stepsisters might not be happy families
material. The wonderful Marion Tait, BRB’s assistant
director, does wicked stepmothers, or indeed any evil old crone or
wicked fairy like no one else and reprises the role she created in the
premiere with an arrogant haughtiness. Her dismissive glance towards the
audience at the curtain call was a gem – an actor to the last. With the stepsisters Bintley manages the near
impossible trick of making them thoroughly nasty – they really are
sadistic to poor old Cinders – yet also firm favourites with the
audience with some glorious comedy. Samara Downs, with what appeared to be bar coded
legs, danced her way awkwardly through the night as Skinny while Laura
Purkiss, with enough padding to advertise Michelin tyres, danced with
all the flat-footed grace she could muster. Dancing under stage lights
in a fat suit must make gym membership pretty well superfluous. To dance badly so precisely and so well demands not only a real feel for humour but also great technique and ability from the pair. Their attempts to hone their skills with the bewigged and affected dancing master, danced by Mathias Digman, in the hopes of becoming belles of the ball are a comedy delight matched by their frantic and forlorn attempts to impress Rory Mackay as the unfortunate Major Domo at the ball. It gives us scenes that confirm Bintley as a master at choreographing comedy. Central to the tale is the Fairy Godmother, seen first in rags when she appears by magic in Cinder’s kitchen, then as the elegant fairy conjuring up a magical coach with lizard footmen (Alexander Bird and Miles Gilliver) a frog coachman (Max Maslen) and mice pages (Lucie-May Oliver and Amelia Tyler) along with a silver, fairy coach.
Miki Mizutani, Céline Gittins, Yaoqian Shang and
Delia Mathews provide a dancing interlude as Spring, Summer, Autumn and
Winter while Yasuo Atsuji, William Bracewell, Brandon Lawrence and Tom
Rogers add athleticism as the Prince’s friends.
This was a £1 million production back in 2010 and
John Macfarlane’s designs range from the oppressive drabness of Cinder’s
kitchen to the elegance of the imperial palace – including the symbolic
giant clock with its working movement to signal midnight. There is a
starlit dream sequence and a giant sun for our lovers to stroll towards,
all decked out in outstanding costumes from rags to a glittering prince
and princess. And it is the Prince and soon to be Princess who
end the story after two gentle pas de deux danced quite beautifully,
including an impressive one handed lift, by Caley. Caley and Momoko are making quite a name for
themselves as a pairing to savour. To music by Prokofiev, played by the excellent
Royal Ballet Sinfonia under Philip Ellis, Cinderella is an easy to
follow, familiar story and a wonderful, modern, classical ballet which
has quickly become of age to become an audience favourite in the BRB
repertoire. To 25-02-17 Roger Clarke 15-02-17 Meanwhile, just a thought to ponder though . . . if Cinderella in her godmother-given gladrags is dancing in pink, satin ballet shoes, how come when she rushes off into the night she loses a sparkly, silver slipper? |
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