Royal Ballet in Cinemas - Review: Cinderella
Royal Ballet in Cinemas at the Odeon Cinema, Belfast
On Tuesday 10th December, I attended the live cinema screening of the Royal Ballet in Sir Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella at the Odeon Cinema in Belfast. Ashton’s Cinderella is one of the most iconic works in the Royal Ballet repertoire. Choreographed to the score of Sergei Prokofiev, it premièred at the Royal Opera House on the 23rd December 1948, with Moira Shearer as Cinderella and Michael Somes as the Prince. Perhaps the standout feature of Ashton’s Cinderella is that he created the roles of the Ugly Stepsisters for men, following the popular English pantomime tradition. Ashton created the roles for himself and Sir Robert Helpmann and Cinderella became a popular member of the Royal Ballet repertoire, becoming a second favourite Christmas treat beside The Nutcracker.
The ballet was staged in three productions at the Royal Opera House during Ashton’s lifetime and was also adapted for television in 1957 with Margot Fonteyn as Cinderella and Ashton and Helpmann as the Stepsisters. The second production was staged in 1965 and the third in 1987, six months before Ashton’s death. In 2003, after over a decade of absence, Cinderella was revived in a new production by Wendy Ellis-Somes, who owns the rights to the ballet, and last year, the Royal Ballet brought Cinderella back to the stage in another new production for the ballet’s 75th anniversary.
Compared to the previous production, this new production is an improvement in regards to the décor, designed by Tom Pye, and costumes designed by Alexandra Byrne. Pye’s design for the décor of the second act is certainly the best, presenting a beautiful backdrop of the palace. The décor for the first act was an improvement from the previous production as it included more detail that gave more of a feel that it is set in somebody’s house and it looked well in the twinkling lights that accompanied the Fairy Godmother. The final scene with the never-ending staircase against the night sky with the moon and stars was a nice touch, but it was a tad too dark and probably would’ve looked better had the moon been shining. The costumes, especially those for Cinderella in Act 2 and the final scene, the Prince, the guests of the ball and the corps de ballet of the stars, were beautifully designed. The costume for the Fairy Godmother was a beautiful purple with a flowing skirt that added to her elegance and the costume of the Jester was a fitting red and gold-yellow combination. While it is always welcome to see colour in ballet costumes, sometimes it can be too much, as was the case for the costumes of the Stepsisters and the Four Fairy Seasons; the colours were just too vibrant, especially those on Fairy Summer’s costume (vibrant pink and yellow are not a good combination).
Now, onto the ballet. While there is no doubt that Ashton was one of the greatest choreographers of the 20th century, his Cinderella is not one of his best works. Ashton is known for his wonderful musicality and decorative footwork, but his choreography for Cinderella is too heavy and too busy and the main reason why is because of the score. It may be very popular, but Prokofiev’s Cinderella is one of the most awkward ballet scores we have. Prokofiev wanted to portray Cinderella as a real person and really show the blossoming love between Cinderella and the Prince, but the result was too modernist and too harsh with drama. Overall, it is not the right sort of score for a ballet adaptation of the Cinderella fairy tale. One can tell that Ashton was doing everything in his power to combine his choreographic style with Prokofiev’s modernism, but unfortunately, it doesn’t quite work. Had he acquired a score more in the style of the classic 19th century scores, or one that was not so harsh with such a modernist approach to drama and character arcs, the results probably would have been better.
Despite these shortcomings, we had plenty of stellar performances that made up for it, although there were two that fell flat and that was the Ugly Stepsisters, portrayed by Bennet Gartside and James Hay. Gartside and Hay are wonderful actors with a fantastic knack for comedy, but as the stepsisters, they were just too over-the-top and too drag queen-like; I found I was simply watching two men dressed as women and their flowery, vibrantly coloured costumes only added to that look. This is all clearly to do with how the roles of the stepsisters have evolved since Ashton and Helpmann; they’ve become more and more grotesque over the years and it’s more than fair to argue that only Ashton and Helpmann could do them and no one can match their level.
Luckily, there was plenty to enjoy. Dancing Cinderella and the Prince were two of the Royal Ballet’s finest dancers, Fumi Kaneko and William Bracewell. Kaneko presented such beautiful, clean technique, graceful arms and musicality; she completely mastered Cinderella’s variations, especially the difficult Act 2 variation with speedy, delicate footwork. Bracewell brought the heartfelt, warm artistry he brings to every role he dances, complete with flawless technique and lines. He and Kaneko have a wonderful partnership, one of the best in today’s Royal Ballet company as they shared amazing chemistry and Bracewell partnered Kaneko beautifully. Their pas de deux was certainly the highlight of the show.
Other cast members included Mayara Magri, who was a wonderfully warm and elegant Fairy Godmother. The Four Fairy Seasons were Isabella Gasparini (Fairy Spring), Mariko Sasaki (Fairy Summer), Meaghan Grace Hinkis (Fairy Autumn) and Claire Calvert (Fairy Winter). All gave fantastic performances of their respective variations and dances in the second and third acts. And of course, there was Daichi Ikarashi as the Jester, who flew through the air with incredible buoyant jumps and performed pirouettes of such speed, complete with stellar technique.
Overall, while this is not one of Ashton’s greatest works, it was an evening of good entertainment nonetheless and a good treat for the festive season, brought to us by the Royal Ballet’s superb dancers and complimented by some fine décor and costumes. Rating wise, I give it three stars out of five.
