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Ringing the charms at midnight
Rags to riches: Elisha Willis as downtrodden Cinderella, barefoot in the dingy kitchen. Pictures: Bill Cooper Cinderella Birmingham Royal Ballet Birmingham Hippodrome **** CAROL-Anne Millar probably managed one of
the worst ballet performances ever seen under the BRB banner. Her timing was terrible and she managed all the
elegance and finesse of a drunken pig in a gale. Oh, and, er, yes, did I
mention she was quite brilliants at it. Dancing badly is not hard – most blokes even wear it as a badge of honour – but dancing badly and doing it well rather than . . . well badly . . . that is something else and Millar as Dumpy, the more substantial of Cinderella's two horrid stepsisters, turns it into an art form. She is even better at being wort than in the
ballet's premiere two years ago in a role she is rapidly making her own. Wearing a fat suit to boot she slouches around
the stage with a sort of flat-footed indifference, only really coming to
life during the Prince's ball when a servant arrives with a display of
iced buns – which with Dumpy, the food Hoover around, is taking your
life into your hands. She is rivalled in the dancing badly stakes, badly well that is if you see what I mean, by Samara Downs as step-sister No 2, Skinny, who even gives us a pole dance on the Major Domo's (Rory Mackay) staff. Demure is not in Skinny's repertoire. The pair dance delightfully badly with all the
elements and steps on display but not necessarily in the right order as
Eric Morecambe might have put it – and getting it wrong after years of
striving to get it right takes a lot of practice Their scene with the posing Dancing Master
(Mathias Dingman) leaves you full of awe at their dancing which is . . .
awful. Flying Buns: Carol-Anne Millar as Dumpy with a triumphal leap after grabbing a passing Mr Kipling king size. I suppose we are supposed to dislike the pair,
that is how we are conditioned in our fairy tale upbringing, but they
gave us plenty of laughs and enjoyment so the hearty cheers they got at
the end means that that bit of the plot went up in smoke. Mind you the whole plot has been moved away from the world of panto and choreographer David Bintley's vision is more Grimm than Disney. Bintley, the BRB's director, opens the ballet
with a funeral as Cinderella's mother is laid to rest and we first catch
sight of her future stepmother and step sisters in the cemetery gloom –
just in case you might have been expecting any look out behind yous. The traditional tale unfolds with Cinders (Elisha
Willis) ill-treated by step-mother and sisters and finally denied an
invite to the Prince's ball, the heart of the fairy tale. Cinders is left as part of the furniture as
dancing master, wig maker and hairdresser all arrive to make Skinny and
Dumpy suitable for a Prince – thankfully they realise the task is beyond
mere mortals, give up and present their bills or the first night could
have run into New Year. Back at the fairy tale, Cinders has helped out an
old lady, who just happens to appear by the fire in the kitchen, as they
do. She has given her food and even given the old lady the treasured
pair of he dead mother's shoes she keeps hidden in a box. By a happy coincidence the old dear turns out to
be Cinder's fairy godmother which means she shall go to the ball. Marion Tait gives us an elegant, heartless
stepmother while the excellent Victoria Marr does not really have much
chance to show off her talents as the fairy godmother apart from giving
the role some presence. Perhaps her dress could also have had a bit more
sparkle with fairy dust to stop her looking like Miss Havisham. A frog coachman (James Barton) leads his lizards and mice pages in readying a coach for Cinders to climb aboard and away we go. Iain Mackay gives us a dashing, elegant Prince
and I am always amazed at the strength he shows in lifts – you wouldn't
want to get into an arm wrestling contest with him – and his dances with
Elisha Willis are a delight. Willis manages to give us a vulnerable Cinders in
rags who blossoms at the ball and positively glows at the end after the
Prince finds her foot fits the slipper she had left behind at the ball.
In The Nutcracker, BRB's more traditional
Christmas offering, the big special effect is the growing Christmas
tree, here it is the huge mechanical innards of a clock with moving cogs
and wheels which glide in from each side to fill the back wall and then
counts off the time with moving hands to midnight with Cinders then
vanishing off into the workings. It is two years since we had the world premiere
and there have been subtle changes and evolution to smooth edges and
polish scenes with the result a simple ballet with a strong storyline
which can be enjoyed by adults and children alike – which is what you
want at Christmas. As always at BRB the lighting, by David Finn in
this case, enhances the performance adding an extra dimension while the
design by John MacFarlane is impressive from costumes to sets which look
solid as houses yet glide up or away seamlessly to create a new scene
all without interrupting the music or movement. Down in the pit – where, incidentally, the
orchestra no longer have to cope with a stream trickling through their
midst since the new stage was installed – the Royal Ballet Sinfonia
under Koen Kessels, were in sparkling form with the Prokofiev score. Personally I think The Nutcracker has the edge as
the harbinger of Christmas but Cinderella runs it a close second and
with another season under its glass slipper is surely set to become
another BRB favourite. Roger Clarke Meanwhile winding the clock . . . **** THE arrival of master choreographer David
Bintley's Cinderella is a pre-Christmas treat for ballet lovers and any
newcomers to this art form. Performed to Prokofiev's music it is certainly no
pantomime, blessed with wonderful dancing by the BRB, stunning lighting
effects by David A. Finn, dramatic scenery and sumptuous costumes. Having said that, this ballet is bless with a
generous helping of humour, mainly provided by Cinderella's step sisters
who are more nasty than ugly. Their performances at the palace ball as
they attempt to 'hook' the handsome prince are a hoot. Samara Downs (Skinny) and Carol-Anne Millar,
playing Dumpy with a cleverly padded costume, have to produce some
extremely skilful movements as they flit in and out of the elegantly
dancing guests....especially when Dumpy is chasing the cakeman at the
same time! Elisha Willis is a delight as Cinderella who
escapes the bullying of her stepsisters in the drab kitchen of her home
and eventually wins the prince, beautifully played by Iain Mackay. The scene where, at midnight, Cinderella dashes
from the ball through the revolving cogs of a giant clock, is
breath-taking. While Cinderella will never eclipse the
magnificent Nutcracker, it is, nevertheless, a superb production, with
the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, conducted by Koen Kessels, in exceptional
form. To 09-12-12. Paul Marston
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