CINDERELLA

A review by Tanya Howard

There’s nothing more spectacular than a well executed ballet production and I was highly impressed with the English National Ballet’s performance of Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella at Royal Albert Hall.

Christopher Wheeldon, Tony Award-winning choreographer and director, is the Artistic Associate of The Royal Ballet, originally created Cinderella for Dutch National Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. With his collaborators they have adapted it for English National Ballet and Royal Albert Hall.

Taking inspiration from the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale Christopher wanted to try and capture some of the fantasy and darkness of the story. Instead of the fairy godmother from Perrault’s version this tale had the spirit of Cinderella’s mother blooms into a tree and the four fates help her.

This was not the only change Christopher made to the classic story, he made the ugly sisters uglier in spirit rather than physically ugly and developed the character of the Prince. Usually a smaller part until the scene of the ball in this production the Prince was shown growing up, and trying to avoid being married off by his parents.

The performance was brought to life with over 90 dancers, a live orchestra and an incredible set design and costumes. Cinderella’s outfit for the ball and the way they portrayed the carriage that whisks her off to the palace is done really well and isn’t what you’d expect.

The scene where Cinderella is transformed for the ball was incredible, with the spirits of Lightness, Fluidity, Generosity, and Mystery appearing to teach Cinderella the steps she will need for the ball. Finally she is embraced by the branches and comes out transformed.

The Royal Albert Hall is a beautiful venue and we were sat just a few rows from the stage and it was amazing to see the ballet dancers walking past us on the performer’s aisle. We were so close to the action that we could hear the tap of their feet on the stage, it was actually quite surreal but in a good way.

Maria Kochetkova was spectacular as Cinderella, dancing beautifully and with such great chemistry alongside Prince Guillaume, portrayed by Jeffrey Cirio. I didn’t catch the name of the dancer portraying the evil stepmother but I have to say she was amazing, especially her drunk moments at the ball.

I’m not usually captivated by performances that have no words, I’ve always been one for a dialogue as I get lost easily. But this performance was absolutely exquisite and the only lost feeling I felt was getting lost in the beauty of the performance.

Photo Credit: Andy Paradise/Royal Albert Hall