Dutch National Ballet: Cinderella, Coliseum, July 2015

[A frog]

There doesn't seem to be a thread yet, and I can't imagine I was the only one there.

 

I was curious to see Wheeldon's version, and even more to see the Golding/Tsygankova pairing again after their amazing Don Q earlier this year. 

 

I'm not as knowledgeable as other posters here, and a mildly distressing day leading to an occasional lack of focus means that I'll only be able to give rather superficial comments.

 

It overall made for a very good evening, I've never seen a Cinderella that I loved, and it didn't really change that, but I'm considering going again so that's at least something (tkts has half-price tickets for today, let's hope other performances as well).

 

It might seem silly to call this a "realistic" Cinderella as there are still fates and spirits (and this is still Cinderella), but outside of the transformation sequence and a few exotic and fantastical characters, you felt it was above all the story of a boy and a girl, both were introduced in parallel which unless my memories betray me isn't the case in the Ashton or Ratmansky versions (the only other two I have seen). Even the mistreatment Cinderella suffers isn't cartoonishly cruel nor is her father presented as completely lost. 

 

As to the dancing, I liked the performances a lot (if the RB persists in having guests, I'm more than ok with them asking Tsygankova to come back), the funny parts were happily not too over the top, but while I was entertained throughout, there isn't really a portion of the ballet that truly wowed me, though that might be due to the circumstances and might change on a second viewing.

Edited July 9, 2015 by A frog

[Jan McNulty]

Thanks for starting the thread A frog!

[jm365]

I'm sorry, I have to disagree with A frog.  I thought this was a really boring evening.  I found the so-called comedy vulgar.  Ashton's version, which I was lucky enough to see when he and Helpmann danced, with Fonteyn as Cinderella, was never vulgar, even when over the top, and was genuinely funny, IMHO.  (OK, more recent performancews,with the new sets and costumes, were closer to vulgar than Ashton's original.)  The central performances, although well danced, totally failed to connect with me - I was in the Dress Circle, which is closer to the stage than I normally sit in the Opera House.  I found many of the steps, throughout, cliched, sometimes with very little relationship to the music.  I was interested to see that The Stage gave it two stars only - I agree!

[A frog]

I'd agree that it was overall a bit light and subdued compared to other treatments (I've only seen the Ashton in its last run, and wasn't impressed), but I really liked how sweet it was (in particular the fate of the step-sister).

I hesitated to compare it to Alice, it's not quite as whiz-bang-woosh, and while more dance focused works better as a spectacle than for the individual moments of dancing.

[johnross]

It was a strange photocall as we had mixed casts - Acts I and II were led by Maia Makhateli and Artur Shesterikov and Act II by Anna Tsygankova and Matthew Golding. I found the whole afternoon very entertaining and colourful. So it is difficult to judge just the one performance. I am afraid I have to disagree with the above posts. We seem to be in a hurry to compare with past productions instead of enjoying what is in front of us. I have photographed very many Cinderellas over the years and I found this to be a happy and very well choreographed Cinderella. Well done Christopher Wheeldon and the Dutch National Ballet.

 

 

 Maia Makhateli - Cinderella , Suzanna Kaic - Stepsister Clementine and Erica Horwood - Stepsister Edwina in Act I

 

 

Matthew Golding - Prince Guillame and Anna Tsygankova - Cinderella in Act II 

 

 

Artur Shesterikov - Prince Guillame and Maia Makhateli - Cinderella in Act III

 

More pictures on www.johnrossballetgallery.co.uk

 

 

[LinMM]

Am just down the road from the Coli waiting to go to this evenings performance.

 

I've never been particularly in love with this ballet so am not over expectant .......really more to see the company than anything so am sure I will enjoy it......especially having walked from Victoria up to the ROH and back down again.

 

Actually the walk from Victoria via Palace road Castle Lane Petty France Queen Anne's Gate and St James Park was very enjoyable....well on a day like this at any rate....took me 30 mins to get to Trafalgar Square at a fairly even pace so not bad and better than cooking on an overcrowded bus!!

[SPD444]

I attended the opening night performance with Matthew and Anna dancing the principal roles and have to say that I enjoyed all the dancers. I cannot comment or compare Wheeldon with the Ashton, but am not sure that is fair anyway. To say one is "better" than another is a matter of personal taste. I didn't find the two sisters vulgar, maybe the humour did not always work but I can't recall anything vulgar. To me it was a fairy tale ballet, like the Nutcracker, and should be judged at that level and, for me, it worked. I did wonder however that when the chairs rose in the air and kind of hovered over the dancers whether that was supposed to happen!

 

To me a very enjoyable evening and very pleased I was able to attend given the lack of tube trains, which is another matter.

[Coated]

Cinderella the Entertainment if you like Wheeldon. I was fairly bored by the choreography, couldn't figure out why one would put a panto-busted lady in a post 1950's production and didn't particularly like most of the costumes. No idea why one would claim this is a more 'realistic' Cinderella - as far removed from the fairytale as the Disney version.

 

The drunk stepmother was amusing.

Edited July 9, 2015 by Coated

[FLOSS]

Christopher Wheeldon's Cinderella is the sixth ballet I have seen which uses this Prokoviev score and the fourth made by a choreographer with Royal Ballet School/Royal Ballet connections.It must be very difficult for anyone with that background to set about creating a new version because the choreography that Ashton set to the most beautiful music in the score is so memorable.

 

So how did Wheeldon do? I am not sure that anyone staging a version of Cinderella,be it opera ,pantomime or ballet really needs to tell the audience that Cinderella has lost her mother and acquired a stepmother and two step sisters by using the overture to show us said sickly mother;her tombstone;introduce us to the new mother and sibs and show us the prince as a naughty little scamp playing with wooden swords with his friend and tormenting a servant dressed like a pantomime dame. But of course I could be wrong.Perhaps the story is not as universal I suppose it to be and it is necessary because the ballet is a co production with SFB. The problem is that they set up a feeling that the whole thing is going to be episodic.The fact that so much of the choreography seems to have so little to do with the music does not alter that impression.

 

For one moment I thought that Wheeldon might be about to give us a Cinderella with a story line closer to that set by Rossini with the prince visiting Cinderella's home in the guise of a servant but he turned up as a tramp.While it is true that there are no fairies or fairy godmother in this retelling of the story there is no attempt to set anything of choreographic interest in the scene in which the seasons appear and the waltz is simply ignored in so far as none of the movement set to it acknowledge its presence.This is a problem because Prokoviev wrote this score using a fairly traditional ballet structure providing music for solos and divertisements at the end of the act and the choreography that Wheeldon sets is not of comparable quality to the music.

 

The ballroom scene has lots of entrances and exits for no obvious reason. It shows us the stepmother as a woman with a drink problem(very amusing)and shows us the stepsisters rolling around on the floor (very innovative).He introduces three girls in ballet style national costumes but does very little with them.They seem to disappear almost as soon as they arrive.The corps who play the guests are used to dress the stage and their choreography is of little intrinsic interest.Again the problem in this act is that the big tunes are danced across rather than used to show the prince and Cinderella falling in love through a beautiful pas de deux.The choreography does not really bring the two characters together in the way that Ashton manages to do.

 

In the scene after the ball the stepmother throws up into a tureen and we get to see the female corps trying on the slipper and there is a smelly foot joke.After Cinderella has been identified there is nothing of any real choreographic interest.Strange that Wheeldon's response to this great ballet score should be so pedestrian. It underlines how big a step he has taken in choreographing Winter's Tale.

 

As far as the performances are concerned all the dancers performed with whole hearted commitment but the choreography is thin and that for the prince and Cinderella is not particularly inspired.Some passages for the prince look awkward just to be different and do not show him to best advantage.But it has to be said that Golding looks far more comfortable and at home with this company than he does with the Royal Ballet.He did not scowl once.

Edited July 10, 2015 by FLOSS

[alison]

I don't remember anyone complaining that Golding's scowl was a problem ...

 

Christopher Wheeldon's Cinderella is the sixth ballet I have seen which uses this Prokoviev score and the fourth made by a choreographer with Royal Ballet School/Royal Ballet connections.

 

Let me guess ... Ashton, Matthew Hart, and ... Michael Corder?  I was going to say Christopher Gable, but then I wasn't sure that he'd actually choreographed NBT's version.

[Jan McNulty]

Christopher Gable did indeed choreograph Cinderella but it was to a commissioned score by Philip Feeney and was very wonderful. David Nixon's lovely Cinderella uses a different commissioned score from Philip Feeney.

 

I would guess that David Bintley is the fourth.

[zxDaveM]

...and here are a few photos from me. Having the opening night cast in Act 2 and the 2nd night cast in acts 1&3, was a little confusing when it came to naming everyone, so fingers crossed I've got them all right!


Anna Tsygankova, Matthew Golding
© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr


Maiko Tutsumi, Victoria Ananyan, Matthew Golding, Maria Chigai
© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr


Erica Horwood, Suzanna Kaic, Maia Makhateli
© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr


Maia Makhateli, Artur Shesterikov
© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

See more...
Set from DanceTabs: Dutch National Ballet - Cinderella
Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

[RuthE]

So much of it reminded me of Winter's Tale, from the colour scheme to the giant tree and the two little boys growing up together!

[Sim]

 But of course I could be wrong.Perhaps the story is not as universal I suppose it to be and it is necessary because the ballet is a co production with SFB.

 

 

I can assure you Floss that even people in San Francisco are aware of the Cinderella story.

[zxDaveM]

So much of it reminded me of Winter's Tale, from the colour scheme to the giant tree and the two little boys growing up together!

 

which came first? Could be that Winters Tale reminds you of his Cinderella! :-)

Actually, I agree, there were lots of things that reminded me of WT - and Alice come to that. As I like both, this was no hardship. Really enjoyed in fact. Didn't miss - at all - the 'ugly sisters' in drag, the jester, oranges. Did miss the 'Stars' and that gorgeous pdd that Ashton choreographed. I saw Maia Makhateli as Cinderella - and very lovely she was too! The 'seasons' or Spirits in this case, had some lovely touches, and enjoyed the ballroom scene - the drunken step mum was a hoot!

[RuthE]

I haven't seen the Ashton (rather envious of several friends in New York who've recently had the opportunity to see Marianela Nunez guesting in it for ABT) so didn't miss anything!

[Sunrise]

I really love the pictures, especially the one of Cinderella stepping on the Prince's feet - does he dance with her like that for an extended period? And of the participants trying on the shoe, who is the one with the giant stone head?? I really wish I could see this production. I'm not usually a fan of Golding but I like how animated he looks - it might be good to see him do more comedy ballets. :-)

[zxDaveM]

I really love the pictures, especially the one of Cinderella stepping on the Prince's feet - does he dance with her like that for an extended period? And of the participants trying on the shoe, who is the one with the giant stone head?? I really wish I could see this production. I'm not usually a fan of Golding but I like how animated he looks - it might be good to see him do more comedy ballets. :-)

 

no, just 2-3 steps until she gets the hang of it, so to speak - and then she's ready for the grand ball! Ah - if only it were that easy!

[alison]

Christopher Gable did indeed choreograph Cinderella but it was to a commissioned score by Philip Feeney and was very wonderful. David Nixon's lovely Cinderella uses a different commissioned score from Philip Feeney.

 

I would guess that David Bintley is the fourth.

 

Oops, how could I have forgotten that one?

[LinMM]

I thoroughly enjoyed this Cinderella by Wheeldon yesterday evening.

 

The main dancers were Maia Makhateli and Artur Shesterikov with Suzanna Kaic and Erica Horwood as ugly sisters both showing considerable comic talent.

 

Well there seem to be a few ideas of Wheeldon's own added to this fairytale but for me I thought it all fitted together well and loved the ever growing tree seemingly symbolic of Cinderella growing in her own strength ....and the idea of the four spirits guiding her through life. This places a little more responsibility onto the character of Cinderella so in this sense this is a more modern telling of the tale in that the heroine is not quite so "helpless" to her own fate as often happens in Fairy Tales. She responds to the support given her etc. anyway don't want to get too psychological about it all as I don't care that much if Fairy Tales don't always make that much sense!

 

So I didn't mind the initial explaining of her mothers death which also set the scene for her tears starting the growth of the tree and her mothers love presumably sending the four spirits to help her from the other side!!

 

There were many interesting touches throughout this ballet lots of comic moments. and I for one even though I did love Ashton and Helpman in the original ugly sisters roles am glad this version has got away from all that and gives dancers with a bent for comedy a chance to shine in these roles.

In this version the Prince swaps roles with his friend and turns up at Cinderellas house so unwittingly she meets the Prince (showing her wonderfully kind nature of course) before the Ball. I loved the way the spirits of the woods so to speak helped and the "wheels" and "horses heads" turned into the carriage projected onto the sky a wonderful image to end the first Act..... But.....and didnt know whether this was Wheeldon's wicked sense of humour or not ........we were not allowed to get carried away with this as the House lights came on almost with a bang as soon as curtain was down.....wrenched away from the magical image!!

 

The ballroom scene was very colourful and beautifully danced and some very comic moments from the ugly sisters themselves but particularly the step mum who got drunk and (am really sorry don't have the dancers name as programme up in London) this was really very funny I thought.

The other touch I liked was all the chairs lined up with so many characters waiting their chance to try on the shoe hoping to marry the prince some amusing scenes here and then when the Prince finally gets to Cinderellas house these chairs suddenly start floating up over the stage and hovering over the kitchen!! I must admit felt slightly worried for the dancers at this point as one felt they could come tumbling down at any moment!!

 

When Cinderella and the Prince finally get hitched the tree has become enormous almost taking over the whole stage but I thought there was a nice pas de deux at that point ......can't remember if was as poignant as Ashton's (who I usually love) but certainly beautiful enough. There is also a secondary romance in this version with one of the ugly sisters taking up with the Princes Friend. It's a nice touch in some ways but this may take away ...a little .....from the main romance going on but the Friend had played such a big role with the Prince probably difficult to know what to do with him at the end!

 

Anyway all in all I think this Cinderella is worth going to see and will stand the test of time. How it stands against other versions before it

In the grand scheme of things I don't know but I would go to see it again.

 

And the Dutch National Company is in very fine form if I were a young dancer about to join this Company I'd feel very excited indeed.

[nottsballetlover]

Great review Linn, thanks. I'm now really looking forward to seeing it tomorrow matinee!

[nottsballetlover]

Just been to see today's matinee of Wheeldon's Cinderella with DNB.

I really enjoyed it as a holistic production. Fabulous designs, scenery and effects including elevating chairs! Very magical although not sure I was following what Wheeldon was trying to do at times (not sure why Cinderella ended up under a tree with weird creatures......).

Loved the carriage bit: spectacular piece of theatre!

In terms of dancing I saw Maia Makhateli and Artur Shestirikov in the leading roles and thought they were superb. Also shining as a fab character was Sasha Mukhamedov as step mother. Wow did she disgrace herself spectularly drunk at the ball!! (Uncanny resemblance to me in my youth!!).

I liked the characterisation of the sisters, wonderfully danced and acted by Erica Horwood and Susanna Kaic. I also liked that the prince had a pal with his own love storyline, finely danced by Sergei Endinian.

Orchestra and conductor were superb. Not credited on the cast sheet which is a bit disrespectful. I love the Prokoviev score and find it equally moving as R&J.

 

All in all, Wheeldon has wheeled out a very enjoyable version of Cinderella

Hardly conventional but I don't mind!

[aileen]

I wasn't won over by this. The score and the tree were the stars. I appreciate that Wheeldon took his inspiration from the Grimms' version of Cinderella and wanted the eponymous heroine to have more agency but it didn't work for me. Most of the choreography was unmemorable (there was one lovely pdd for Cinderella and the Prince in the ball scene) and the long section with the wood sprites was interminable and a waste of the music which would have been better used for a longer transformation scene. Having said that, the creation of the carriage and Cinders' departure for the ball were very cleverly done. Despite the elaborate staging I felt that the production lacked much magic. In particular, Cinderella's arrival at the ball was a bit of a non-event compared with the one in Bintley's version: the thrilling descent of the staircase en pointe. The famous midnight striking of the clock had no apparent significance in this version because Cinderella had not been warned that she must leave the ball by midnight when the transformation would be reversed. The peril in this version was that her mask was ripped off by her stepmother. I wasn't greatly taken by the dancers either, particularly the Prince who was bland. Golding has his critics but he does cut a dashing figure on stage. On the plus side, the stepsisters were much more palatable (ie less caricature (Bintley) or pantomime dame (Ashton)) than usual and, consequently, were actually enjoyable to watch. However, I missed the chilling stepmother of the Bintley version.

 

One critic (Graham Watts?) asked why companies felt the need to commission a new Cinderella. The answer was plain to see this afternoon: the theatre was packed and I gather that, with the exception of the Thurday matinee, the run has sold very well (which is rare at the Coliseum). I think that I was very much in a minority in my response to this production. The audience seemed very appreciative of what they were seeing. My daughter thought that the choreography for the Prince's solo was 'bad' and that the passage with the woodland sprites was 'boring' and went on for too long without advancing the plot.

 

One other thought: I love the score but I imagine that right from its creation choreographers have found it over-long and difficult to work with. I wonder whether choreographers have ever pruned or re-ordered it.

Edited July 11, 2015 by aileen

[LinMM]

Was the orchestra the one for BRB? They were very good......lots of panache. Can't get access to the programme till Tuesday but I have a vague memory that it might have been that orchestra.

[LinMM]

One thing I did miss from this production was Cinderellas dance with the broomstick.....I really loved that scene in presumably Ashton's version.

[FLOSS]

Wheeldon's full length ballets were created in the following order Alice in 2011, Cinderella in 2012 and Winter's Tale in 2014. As far as Cinderella is concerned it was, I understand his second suggestion,after his first suggestion of Prince of the Pagodas was rejected. Now it would have been really interesting to see what he would have done with that score. It might have been a case of fourth time lucky as far as the Britten's ballet is concerned and perhaps it would not have been a ballet where all the best effects come from the staging rather than the choreography.I would like to think that someone would take him up on it.

 

As far as the popularity of this version of Cinderella is concerned I suspect that the title alone will have sold the tickets. Parents can be certain that it is going to be a child friendly entertainment and there is no obviously child friendly ballet on elsewhere in London this month.Cinderella clearly has almost as much drawing power as Nutcracker because everyone has heard of it.

 

The standard cuts to Prokoviev's score, in the West at least. seem to be the music for the prince's quest for Cinderella. Ashton famously explained why he had cut the music by saying that he did not like the music or the countries that the prince had visited. It would seem that most western choreographers feel the same about that part of the score.

Edited July 11, 2015 by FLOSS

[Terpsichore]

I saw Cinderella last night with Tsygankova and Golding in the leading roles and enjoyed it enormously. I also saw Helpmann and Ashton dance the sisters twice and it is quite likely that Fonteyn danced in one or both of  those performances too. Wheeldon's Cinderella is certainly different from Ashton's but then so is Ratmansky's, Nixon's, Gable's and Darius James's. I saw merit in them all. 

 

I was not in the least bored by the show and I found it far from vulgar but then each to his own.

 

I will blog about this show later.  

 

I should just like to add that it was good to see DonQ Fan in the row in front of me. She seemed to like the show at least as much as me.

Edited July 12, 2015 by terpsichore

[Bluebird]

 

The standard cuts to Prokoviev's score, in the West at least. seem to be the music for the prince's quest for Cinderella. Ashton famously explained why he had cut the music by saying that he did not like the music or the countries that the prince had visited. It would seem that most western choreographers feel the same about that part of the score.

 

But surely this music appears in a number of versions by western choreographers?  I don't remember whether or not Bintley uses it but it's certainly in the final act of the Corder and Ratmansky versions. Also, unless I'm very much mistaken, although Wheeldon doesn't use it in the final act, he does use it in Act 2 for the dances of the three princesses (Russian, Spanish and Balinese)

Edited July 12, 2015 by Bluebird

[aileen]

I found the sequence with the three princesses (and their oddly attired 'chaperones') particularly dull. I wasn't keen on the (often quite gaudy) costumes generally; I didn't like the colour schemes and there seemed to be a lot of cheap looking shiny material around.

[Bluebird]

But surely this music appears in a number of versions by western choreographers?  I don't remember whether or not Bintley uses it but it's certainly in the final act of the Corder and Ratmansky versions. Also, unless I'm very much mistaken, although Wheeldon doesn't use it in the final act, he does use it in Act 2 for the dances of the three princesses (Russian, Spanish and Balinese)

 

Too late to edit the above posting, but it just occurred to me that some might challenge my view of Ratmansky as a 'western' choreographer.  If so, I apologize for applying the term too loosely.

Edited July 12, 2015 by Bluebird

[Beryl H]

I like the round the world music at the start of the third act, this is used well by Nureyev in his POB version, without it the act is rather short.

 

I had been looking forward to seeing the Dutch National Ballet and really enjoyed seeing two different casts yesterday, the evening cast was identical to the one I have on Blu-Ray so I will enjoy watching it even more now, and I loved the matinee cast, Maia Makhateli and Artur Shesterikov were a beautiful young Cinderella and Prince who radiated warmth, the programme says they are another real life couple, Sasha Mukhamedov was very funny as the stepmother, unusual for me to say this as this character and the sisters usually get on my nerves, and another special dancer was Roman Artyushkin in the autumn solo (or Mystery in this version).

 

The one disappointment was not being able to see the tree, even from the front of the Balcony I could only see the trunk and some foliage, back to the Blu-Ray, and I guess the dancers are more important than a tree  . Although there are lovely moments, I find the production variable, a bit too manic (like Alice) in places, Cinderella's entrance is not very magical and the Prince has to share his entrance with his servant friend.

 

Congratulations to Dutch National Ballet in being able to nearly sell out the Coliseum, a rare occurrence these days, I hope they return!

[billboyd]

For me, Christopher Wheeldon's Cinderella is like the curate's egg - good in parts.

 

But, Anna Tsygankova, Matthew Golding and all the cast were terrific!

[nickwellings]

I really wasn't enchanted at all by this Cinderella, I am sorry to say. I was at the Sat Mat (Saturday Matinee). I wasn't the only one unengaged: the girl next to me on my left was very fidgety and bored, and the lady to my right left at second interval. By chance I met a fellow ballet blogger: the people next to her were "scoring" it, and gave it 4/10! It had nice bits as billboyd says, but they couldn't lift me away into thrill or lose me in magic. I agree with what Beryl H says: it was lovely to see the Coli with few empty seats for a change. Ballet often does well there - if the balcony is open, and it's a famous story! I wouldn't rush out again to see this again personally, but I admire Mr Wheeldon for trying new things.