Mariinsky Ballet: Cinderella, London 2014

[zxDaveM]

The Mariinsky Ballet opened their final production last night - Ratmansky's version of Cinderella. Here are a couple of photos from the photo call (Act 1 only)


A wistful Cinderella (Diana Vishneva)
© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr


Cinderella (Diana Vishneva) and The Seasons
© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

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Set from DanceTabs: Mariinsky Ballet - Cinderella
Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

[LinMM]

Looking forward to seeing Cinderella this afternoon. As it was sold out already by last weekend have been phoning for a return last few days and finally got one in the Amphi so just off up to London in the next half hour!

[MAB]

Yesterday I was desperate for a ticket for tonight, but after actually seeing it, a night at home watching the telly is the more attractive option.

[Bruce Wall]

Ratmansky’s CINDERELLA is steely; always wanting to change direction.  Ashton’s is comfortably familiar; sitting in the hollow of your heart.   I adore the Ashton - even though it has a dreaded jester - but I am not convinced that the Prokofiev score [here better played overall than in other outings on this particular Mariinsky tour] doesn’t better fit the Ratmansky (albeit that the choreographer himself has said that this early [2002] version - in large measure - ‘doesn’t work’ and this year refashioned it for Australia).  
 

Ratmansky’s CINDERELLA is more bitter than sweet; never settling in one place.  Ultimately, like the intrigues of its score, this CINDERELLA sounds a note of discord and in consummation is proud of it.  While Ratmansky’s shoe may (as it decidedly does) fit Vishneva’s heroine, as radiant in her petits sauts as she is disheveled in her character’s sanitary concern - [at times appearing at least to me to resemble a facial mix of Stix-Brunnell and the once cherished Sarah Wildor] - the production didn’t appear to smile upon this particular audience’s overall call.  Certainly there was much repressed caterwauling in my vicinity.  (What the Ratmansky did do that I, for one, appreciated was (i) right the gender balance inherent in the conventional piece, allowing men to dance the seasons with that sleek-of-foot dancer Vasily Tkachenko and Konstantin Ivkin being outstanding amongst the four and (ii) illustrate an element of contemporary courage [in face of current Russian rulings] with the addition of a certain ‘gayety’ following a sojourn inside a decidedly sultry female bordello in the Prince’s [a much more comfortable Konstantin Zverev than was evidenced in his misguided trip as Ashton’s Armand] last act hunt.) 
 

Of course the Prokofiev score may well itself be neigh impossible to balletically conquer.  That surely is its appeal.  No doubt that is why so many see it as an Everest.  It would have been interesting to see what take Balanchine might have culled from it.  Perhaps a ‘Slaughter on Grim Avenue’.  Bintley's fine interpretation for BRB found a fitting measure I thought.  There is no question but that it is dark.  Strangely this is the one piece where Matthew Bourne’s WWII commercial re-visualisation within his oft limited choreographic vocabulary actually works for me.  [Many don’t, I fear, in their repetitive entire-ties.]  I admire the courage of the Ratmansky try in the balletic idiom.  We all need a hearty shake from time to time.  We all struggle to find that perfect fit.  We all pray that one day it too will come.     

Edited August 16, 2014 by Bruce Wall

[johnross]

And some more pictures from the rehearsal of Ratmansky Cinderella with very colourful Seasons

 

Diana Vishneva - Cinderella and Elena Bazhenova - Fairy-Tramp 

 

 

Diana Vishneva - Cinderella, Margarita Fro,ova - Khudishka, Anastasia Petushkova - Stepmother and Ekaterina Ivannikova - Kubishka 

 

More pictures on www.johnrossballetgallery.co.uk

Edited August 16, 2014 by johnross

[Buddy]

Some fond musings.

 

Very early in my ballet watching career, about eight years ago, 'sight unseen' I bought tickets to see about Seven(!) Ratmansky Cinderellas in a row in Washington DC. I was quite enthusiastic back then and still am but in a slightly more selective way.

 

For me, this work, like Alexei Ratmansky's Bright Stream, is very dependent on the lead performers. Diana Vishneva was one of the three Cinderellas that I saw and she gave the first great ballet performance that I'd really seen, twice. At that time I thought of her as the 'cosmic gymnast.' Igor Kolb, her rock solid partner, twisted and threw her all over the place. I'd never seen anything like it. In addition it was beautiful. Since then she has probably become less the "force of nature" and more the high goddess of expression with the Bolshoi's young prodigy, Olga Smirnova, showing similar promise. It will be interesting to hear if Diana Vishneva has reinvented herself. She was ' An All Time Great ' the first time around.

 

Based only on video clips, Alina  Somova then arrived and brilliantly made this work her own several years ago with Alexander Sergeyev, who appeared this afternoon, as her remarkably fine prince. She won't be doing this in London, but if she were I'd advise climbing mountains and swimming oceans to see her if necessary.

[capybara]

Very early in my ballet watching career, about eight years ago, 'sight unseen' I bought tickets to see about Seven(!) Ratmansky Cinderellas in a row in Washington DC. 

 

 

You deserve a medal.  Once was too much for me and I can't imagine why this Cinderella was selected to end the Mariinsky's tour here

[aileen]

I haven't seen this but the photographs don't appeal at all. The production looks really trashy to me. I love the Prokofiev score and think that David Bintley's production for BRB has much to recommend it (the first scene at the funeral of Cinderella's mother is a great opening) although it is firmly in family friendly ballet territory.

[SusanR]

I totally agree,Capybara,

I have never been so disappointed! The costumes & set were hideous.Why did the four seasons have their faces painted to match their leotards? Not a good look. I didn't stay for the last act at the matinee although I did enjoy the pas de deux in act 2.I really don't know why the Mariinsky decided that this Cinderella was a fitting end to their tour here. I would much rather have seen the Firebird bill but couldn't because the performances were on weekdays and it is not possible for me to get a train home. Thoroughly enjoyed Swan Lake, Apollo and A Midsummer Night's Dream though. Hope the Mariinsky come back soon without Cinderella.

Susan

[Bruce Wall]

Can't speak for the matinee but the Saturday evening performance of Ratmansky's CINDERELLA was - in the vast majority of its cunning and sometimes challenging balletic ways - transformed by the alteration in the leads.  (The remainder of the cast was virtually the same as the evening before - short of Grigory Popov stepping in for one of the Hairdressers/Searchers which from my perspective was virtually unnoticeable.)  

 

The evening before we had the posturings of Vishneva (those attractive poses she inhabits ALL roles with be it in London or New York.  [i would say St. Petersburg but she dances so little there it would no longer be relevant]  It is, however, a grandeur of artifice such as has been deservedly celebrated internationally for well over a decade.  TONIGHT Nadezhda Batoeva, in what I believe was her debut, entirely lived the title role.  It was as if the spontaneous beauty inherent in the body of Ratmansky's line of dance had been sleeping the evening before.  Suddenly it awoke.  Freshly so.  Nothing was forced.  You could feel Batoeva's breath throughout, much as you could hear the audience's laughter carry in and about the dance itself.  This Cinderella's inter-relationships with all characters on the stage -- (the design I admit remained constant and I won't comment on that here as it was not - at least as far as I could make out - the primary emphasis of the piece at hand) -- was so much more articulately defined than in its London debut as to make it almost an entirely different work.  More than a few times Batoeva revitalised with a kind of candour that I, myself,  associated with that stunning star of ballet, a young Karen Kain.  (Why do I think a contemporary Nureyev - if such a beast existed - would be dashing back to sign her up as one of his partners even now much as that legendary figure of yore had with the Canadian.)

Still at no point need this Cinderella have feared.  She danced in the extraordinarily articulate hands of Vladimir Shklyarov; that true prince amongst the current Mariinsky men.  This was a fairy tale to the life.  When Shklyarov climbed up that fire escape after the 'other shoe' had dropped you could hear the entire ROH sigh.  So pronounced was that sigh that the entire audience then laughed.  They did so wrapped inside a realisation of their own humanity; that humane warmth that is pure theatrical magic - and that - of necessity - occurs rarely.  (I'm now convinced Shklyarov will be at least a guest next season at ABT - having been an exchange artist this season - and am willing to bet he'll be a shared principal the season thereafter.  Deservedly so.  That is,in fact, exactly the same path the bewitching Osipova took.)  

 

Shklyarov's performance was nothing short of stunning and a far cry from the remembered shadow of the evening before.  The Saturday night  audience was ENTIRELY engaged.  When this prince looked up at the stage boxes with that slipper in hand you could hear a patent cooing in response from both sexes.  Here was a prince to the manner born and with presence to spare in and around his dazzling turns.  Would that we might have seen his Armand as promised.  In some ways tonight Shklyarov reminded me of that other king of dance, Manuel Legris, for whom Neumeier made his own CINDERELLA (which this production's choreographic framework sometimes resembles).  

 

I, myself, did not notice anyone leaving early tonight - whereas I did on Friday - and the cheers at the conclusion brought the final curtain of this particular Mariinsky tour down with a roar.  The poster calling herself 'capybara' can rest assured:  Tonight was in and of itself a celebration of potential.  Once again Vasily Tkachenko stood out from the ranks of the other seasons in terms of his flawless balletic technique and the enticing play of his eyes - even with that unfortunate green paint plastered all over his face.  

 

Still it was Batoeva who led the germination of all to blossom.  It (and she) were held safely aloft in that (already now established) dramatic surety that IS Shklyarov  Their joint artistry for me provided the fairy dust of this event.  It was a most provocative stimulation.  Indeed, heady. That will I think survive midnight ... which is is even now!           

Edited August 16, 2014 by Bruce Wall

[DrewCo]

 

 

  TONIGHT Nadezhda Batoeva, in what I believe was her debut, entirely lived the title role. 

 

 

 

      

She has danced it at least once before. (I say this based on what has been posted on youtube.)

 

Thank you for the review. I have seen Ratmansky's Cinderella just once, w. Pavlenko and Sergeyev, and found it very enjoyable and choreographically compelling if uneven, though I think I share some of the reservations expressed by others about the designs--at least in the ballroom scene. Wish I could have seen this performance...

Edited August 16, 2014 by DrewCo

[Coated]

I was a little unhappy that the Mariinsky was finishing with the Cinderella, until they pulled the Batoeva / Shklyarov cast out of their balletic bag of wonders. Their performance is a wonderful memory to take away from the last night of a riveting London 2014 season.

[Beryl H]

Well, I feel the complete opposite to above posters, for me the only thing that made this version of Cinderella watchable was Diana Vishneva, and happily Konstantin Zverev too,  who was relaxed, happy, and responsive to his Cinderella as well as showing the dancing he is capable of.  I've never seen so many emotions as Diana Vishneva showed in her dancing, they changed all the time, from ecstasy to fear that it was all a dream. Nadezhda Batoeva danced in a beautiful soft manner but didn't engage me in the same way, Vladimir Shklarov of course was technically brilliant but again I found Konstantin Zverev more likeable.

 

Personally I have always liked Prokofiev's Cinderella much more than R and J so was looking forward to seeing this, but found it unfunny, horrible designs, bit of a sad way to finish the Season, what I did enjoy was the extra dancing for the Prince in the last act and the final pdd, which are missing from the Ashton version, the men's variations for the Seasons were good too, though don't know why everyone kept throwing themselves to the ground, I wondered whether Diana Vishneva had fallen over at the end of her ballroom solo or if it was deliberate, bit of both, as the next night Nadezhda Batoeva just bumped into a man and didn't fall over, but what a daft way to end a solo! I have to say I usually admire Ratmansky,  but I much prefer Bright Stream, Flames of Paris and even Bolt to this.

[Bruce Wall]

 I much prefer Bright Stream, Flames of Paris and even Bolt to this.

 

This CINDERELLA was Ratmansky's first effort at a full length ballet and, as I reported in my initial foray, Beryl, (perhaps you missed it), the choreographer himself has said that in large measure he felt that it "doesn't work" and has gone back and refashioned it this year in a production for The Australian Ballet.  I, for one, would be interested in seeing that but I'm sure that in London any such presentation would be years forthcoming if ever.  "Even" with BOLT Ratmansky would have enjoyed three additional years experience and a goodly number of new ballets under his talented bridge in the interim.  It is wonderful to have a peek at this first effort within his now considerable canon.   We should, of course, remember that this early ballet by Ratmansky had been seen a few years ago in Edinburgh (currently in the UK) with the Mariinksy (and your much admired Vishneva) whereas a work like CONCERTO DSCH (2008) - one which has now become known as one of Ratmansky's established core works - had never previously been seen on these shores.  Bless the Hochhausers for making this possible as they did the London premiere of JEWELS.  I very much hope you had a chance to enjoy DSCH.  I hope it doesn't take forever for London to get a chance to view Ratmansky's Shostakovich Trilogy - especially as a key role in one of those works was fashioned specifically for Osipova when at ABT and now, of course, a much cherished Royal Ballet principal.   I had the good fortune to go to Paris and see two of those works performed by SFB last month and very much enjoyed them.  

Edited August 17, 2014 by Bruce Wall

[zxDaveM]

Nadezhda Batoeva - surely a superstar in the making. Utterly blown away by her Cinderella last night (the only performance I saw, so can't compare to the other performances, though I do wish I'd seen Diana Vishneva, as she is one of my faves).

Can't say I was a fan of the sets nor costumes in Act 1 (and the 'Seasons' throughout), though I'm probably in the minority by finding the fire escape stairways on the sides of the stage quite fascinating. The red striped 'curtain' and/or the vile coloured backdrop didn't do much for me though. Liked the ballroom costumes a lot.

Overall, I really enjoyed the choreography though (perhaps I'm coming round to Ratmansky, as Concerto DSCH was probably my highlight of the 3-week visit). Liked the sisters being women, and having decent things to dance - as well as the superb vampy step mother (Anastasia Petushkova was marvelous). The extended pdds in Act 2 were sublime, as was the finale one to end act 3. But its Nadezhda Batoeva, either solo, or dancing with the elegance personified Vladimir Shklyarov, that will stay with me (despite the production)

[MAB]

Nadezhda Batoeva - surely a superstar in the making.

 

Couldn't agree more.

[helpop]

Overall I enjoyed Friday's night performance, although I think the production could do with a bit of revision in general - structurally it seems a bit messy.  Act I was a waste of Diana Vishneva's talents, as all she had to do was mope around the stage!  

 

The production came to life in the second and third act, with wonderful performances from Vishneva and Konstantin Zverev.  After reading reviews of his previous tour performances, I wasn't expecting anything special, but he actually blew me away with his amazing strength and technique.  

 

I liked most of the actual choreography, I think if Ratmansky revisited the other elements (structure, characterisation, costumes, sets), it could become a really good production.  Although the score I think would still be problematic - in places it seemed a real struggle to fit the choreography to the music.

[alison]

Well, I saw - if you can call it that, really - this production on the first night.  My first reaction was that I'd like to see it again, but at the Coliseum this time, because the production is not a good fit for the ROH, where perhaps as much as 25% of the audience would have had a restricted view of the set and stage action: from stalls circle sides I had no view of the staircase on my side, the "clock" (if such it was), backdrops and so on.  I also didn't like a fair proportion of the costumes.

 

Musically and choreographically, though, I largely liked it: I was intrigued by Ratmansky's interpretation of the music, and the way he found such different things in it from anybody else, and made sense of them narratively.  My only complaint would really be that I never felt involved in the story: rather like the Balanchine "Dream" the weekend before, it seemed that the ballet and the dancers were merely relating what was happening rather than engaging me in our heroine's plight.

 

I wonder how much the revised Australian version of this differs from the Mariinsky version?  It would be interesting to find out.

[stucha]

Not having seen the Mariinsky version except on youtube clips, the Australian version differs in 2 ways.

First the design which is by Jerome Kaplan, a regular collaborator of Ratmansky. The whole ballet is set within a theatre proscenium as if to emphasise the theatricality of the of the story. The sets behind the proscenium are recognisable as Cinderella's house, garden and ballroom with a kind of surrealist 1940s flavour - the sofa in the house for example is a version of the famous 'Mae West lips' model of Salvador Dali. The moment of midnight striking was a wonderfully surreal transformation of trees into metronomes which became menacing!

Projections are use prolifically throughout and are very effective in the Prince's journey in the last act to suggest travel, location and movement. 

The fairy godmother was a kind of female version of the Charlie Chaplin tramp.

Secondly, the 'Seasons' are replaced by 'Planets' - lots of them.  The choreography seemed very busy and energetic in this section and quite confusing. It was not easy to tell which planet was which and what exactly was happening.  Although in the end, they whisked Cinderella away to the ball.

As far as I can tell, the rest of the choreography remains the same as the Mariinsky version - happy to be proven wrong here if others are more knowledgeable on the subject.

At the performances I saw, the audiences gave a collective sigh of delight at the end of the final pas de deux when they came to rest on the floor in each others arms.

I found it very enjoyable without being bowled over by it. It has a different more playful feel than the St Petersburg version.

The director of the Australian Ballet advised that they would be touring it internationally at some stage as there was interest.

 

Here is a selection of clips from the Australian Ballet website which give a flavour of the production

 

[Bruce Wall]

Thanks for that, Stucha.

 

In relation to your request, Alison, here is another (and a couple minutes longer) look at the background of the Australian production changes for the re-fashioned Ratmansky.  I, too, felt the emotional remove you suggest on the London opening evening and was surprised and delighted that I felt so engaged on the Saturday evening performance with the change of the principals.  I hadn't expected it.  True, it may have been accidental but, as my second notice suggests, I suspect not.  

Edited August 18, 2014 by Bruce Wall

[Bluebird]

I saw all three performances at the ROH and also saw the Australian Ballet’s Cinderella in Sydney last December.  For me, Ratmansky’s later thoughts seem more refined and considerably more coherent.  This helped  the overall flow of the ballet.

 

I much preferred the Australian sets for Acts 1 and 3.  As Alison says, the staircase in the Mariinsky version could only work for those sitting in the centre of the auditorium.  My seats were always to the side but I did see the general rehearsal from a central position so I know what I was missing.

 

After a gap of 8 months it’s difficult to comment on the differences in the choreography but in the places where Ratmansky used similar choreography there were definitely many, subtle differences which caused the action to flow better.  As far as I remember, the choreography for the seasons/planet section was completely different as was the section at the beginning of Act 3 where the Prince goes looking for Cinderella.

 

I can only think of one aspect of the Mariinsky version that I prefer.  Although I have seen a different Cinderella ballgown in pictures of the Mariinsky version, the gown worn in London was, to my eyes, preferable to the one worn in Australia – i.e. it clung close to the body and allowed the lines to be seen at all times whereas the Australian gown had a much fuller skirt which sometimes obscured these lines.

 

No time for more now.  I’ll post later if I think of anything else.

 

Here’s the review of the Australian Ballet Cinderella from Dance Tabs last year:

 

http://dancetabs.com/2013/09/australian-ballet-alexei-ratmansky-cinderella-premiere-melbourne/

 

It contains a couple of pictures of the sets referred to above..

Edited August 18, 2014 by Bluebird

[LinMM]

Well Cinderella has never been one of my favourite ballets so only catch up even with the Ashton version from time to time......but on a balance I still prefer this version.... after seeing the Ratmansky at the matinee performance on Saturday.

 

There were some really beautiful pas de deux for the principals .......Matvienko and Sergeyev in the second and especially the third act.

I really liked Matvienko in this as was not so anamoured with her Firebird earlier in the week( didn't get across the fear and horror of being trapped for me) Sergeyev was wonderful I thought with some of the best "renversees" Ive seen for a while but a lovely clean dancer.

I have nothing against the four seasons being men in principal .....again some nice roles for them to do in terms of the dancing .....but I didn't see how they took the plot forward. Was Ratmansky just sending up the supernatural/magic worlds!! Emphasising the demise of such worlds in a more scientific age? Did he have any final say in the costumes? They were awful I thought in fact the word hideous comes to mind! Even more so when each seasons female dancers came into the scene the worst tutus Ive ever seen!! But then I didn't like the costumes or sets that much generally.

I did buy a programme but unfortunately it did not reveal much about Ratmansky's ideas and intentions when forming his version of Cinderella and why he even wanted to rework this tale.

It would have been nice to understand his intentions more in the third act too both the "Spanish" scene and the "blue men" scene seemed superfluous and not that entertaining except when one of the men tried to try on the shoe...a comic moment there.....even for the children present no doubt!! I wonder what they thought these blue men were about?!

 

Anyway there was some pretty decent choreography here and there as well as the pas de deux but can't honestly say I will be in a rush to see again and I was hoping Ratmansky might make me want to see the ballet more often!! Unfortunately no.

 

I do hope some of the little girls in their Cinderella and fairy like dresses were not too disappointed with this Cinderella. Perhaps some of the younger ones saw the four seasons as some exotic form of tele tubbies so all was not lost for them!!

 

So it's back to Ashton for me with this one though I haven't seen Bintleys version so,maybe there next!!

 

Just to add I thought Anastasia Petushkova who danced the stepmother role was superb fantastic dancing from her and a sort of female pantomime dame take a bit .....though am not sure Russians would be that familiar with the British pantomime thing anyway she was brilliant in her role.

[Jan McNulty]

Lin, you should try Northern Ballet's latest production of Cinderella; it's very different and has a cracking commissioned score by the wonderful Philip Feeney!

[LinMM]

I will definitely try to see this one too then!!

[aileen]

I should think that those little girls would have been disappointed with this version of Cinderella. Who designed the sets and costumes?

[LinMM]

Set design by Ilya Utkin and Evgeni Monakhov and costume design by Elena Markovskaya.

 

Presumably there must have been some collaboration with Ratmansky though.

 

Perhaps if there was some explanation of thinking behind the designs that would help ....though not make me like them any more ....but understanding intentions at least is some consolation!!

[alison]

Thanks to everyone who gave feedback on the Australian version.

 

What I did forget to mention in my previous post was that I felt this would go down very well on screen: even from pretty close in the stalls circle I felt I was missing expressions and things that people in the front stalls would probably have picked up on, so heaven knows how it went over to the amphi-dwellers!

[Bruce Wall]

Thanks to everyone who gave feedback on the Australian version.

 

What I did forget to mention in my previous post was that I felt this would go down very well on screen: even from pretty close in the stalls circle I felt I was missing expressions and things that people in the front stalls would probably have picked up on, so heaven knows how it went over to the amphi-dwellers!

 

A healthy pair of binoculars (opera glasses for the poor - no, sorry, 'general bookers') always helps I find in the nether regions (I mean amphitheatre, of course.) 

Edited August 18, 2014 by Bruce Wall

[LinMM]

Just something referring back to post 14 Bruce Wall you said Ratmansky is reported as being unhappy with the ballet and he apparently thinks it doesn't really work. So now he is reworking or rather has now reworked for the Australian Ballet.

I looked at both the clips and they do appear to be promising.

 

However I find it then a bit strange that he allows this version still to be danced.

 

Surely if he has had second thoughts about some aspects .........and I hope he hasn't changed the pas de deux too much as I really did enjoy these......then he should be able to stop something he may feel is under par being danced......until he can remount the revised version he feels better reflects what he wants now.

 

Is this a question of money? Companies have to use the older version because they do have the terrible props and costumes in place!

I'm sure the public wouldn't mind forgoing this production for a while until the new one is in place .........I can't believe that even in Russia people are clamouring at the theatre doors saying "where is our Cinderella"

[Bruce Wall]

I have read elsewhere that Ratmansky has said he would be happy for the Mariinsky production of his first full length ballet to now be shelved.  I have a feeling that it will not be danced too frequently - if at all - once it has been taken to New York and then Washington next Spring where - (in the latter city) - the Mariinsky has an annual season at The Kennedy Center.  (They will be presenting this CINDERELLA ONLY at BAM and in the US Capital at that time.)  

Edited August 18, 2014 by Bruce Wall

[LinMM]

Thankyou for that info.

 

I don't have any idea on how much power a choreographer has over works out there being danced in different companies etc.....on how often are staged and so on.

 

I believe some authors have said they wished certain of their early work had not been published but I suppose once the genie is out of the bottle...........

[Jan McNulty]

I assume it depends on the contract between the company and choreographer.

[DrewCo]

I would love to see the revamped Cinderella, but I would be sorry to lose the variations for the four male seasons as well as some of their other choreography...Choreographers' second thoughts are not always better than their first, though in this case I would be happy to have the chance to compare.

 

Peculiar costumes (or what seem to a lot of viewers peculiar) are rather a consistent Ratmansky trait and his Cinderella is more "fractured fairy tale" than conventional one -- which any designs should reflect. ("Fractured fairy tale" I owe to Rocky and Bullwinkle.)