ENB Cinderella - Royal Albert Hall - June 2019

[RobR]

Has anyone seen it?

[Ian Macmillan]

Yes, 3 reviewers in today's Links.

[MRR]

The photos on the ENB Facebook look spectacular.  I see it Sunday.

[SPD444]

I was their on opening night. Took a chance that Alina would be dancing and came up trumps. Huge production with a small army of dancers hired for the occasion ( nice to see they were named on the cast sheet ).  Clever use of projections and lighting made the bare arena change from a palace to a forest with a seeming flick of a switch.  Lots of running around for all of the cast, once or twice I noticed a member of the corps just getting to their mark before the music started. I was sitting in the Grand Tier so was able to look down on the patterns the dancers made which, for me, was a definite plus. The performance itself was excellent. I found some of the choreography a little strange, Alina served the porridge to her new family dancing on the top of the table they were sitting at; which was slowly spinning round, no idea why. The two sisters interacted well, Tamara took the role as the stepmother which she performed with great glee, I did notice some of her mannerisms were the same as the Duchess character in Alice. Alina and Isaac looked to really enjoy themselves although their pdd’s were a little bit lost on the huge arena spaces. Great show though, credit to the ENB for putting it on and hope it’s well attended.

[CCL]

Thank you SBD44. I’m going on Tuesday with, I think, more or less the same cast. The photos of the production that ENB have posted look fantastic. I can’t wait!

[Irmgard]

The company's previous, beautiful award-winning production by Michael Corder, in which the story was told simply and clearly through exquisite, musical choreography with little or no recourse to pantomime, is a hard act to follow and I found Wheeldon's version to not even come close to it in so many areas.  For me, the choreography is uninspired and looks awkward at times.  It is neither purely classical nor neoclassical and ends up being pseudo-classical, at times its bittiness not reflecting the gorgeous phrasing of Prokofiev’s hauntingly beautiful score.  Of course, there are many enjoyable moments but most of these come from the way the extremely talented dancers of English National Ballet develop their characters through their considerable acting skills rather than being able to develop them through the choreography itself, although for my taste there is sometimes a bit too much pantomime acting.  I thought the production had not been particularly well adapted for the Royal Albert Hall’s arena, especially from the viewpoint of those sitting in the Stalls, as I was for the dress rehearsal and the opening night.  Too often my view of what was important was obscured, a case in point being the second scene, played by the young prince and his friend, Ben, when their antics with Madame were completely blocked from my side of the arena by the huge archways, signifying the palace hallways.  I have seen the DVD by the Dutch National Ballet so I knew what was going on, but other people on my half of the arena may have wondered why the people on the other side were laughing.  Adding extra people to the four seasons episode is not particularly successful as it looks too busy and the soloists are often hidden.  As with the photographs posted on the company’s Facebook page, it seems the best view of all that is going on will be from the cheapest seats in the Gallery.  This is definitely a production which relies on stage effects, rather than choreographic substance, and some of these are spectacular.  One which stood out for me was in the opening scene, in which Wheeldon shows us the young Cinderella with her devoted mother and father (played by two of the company’s finest dance-actors, Fabian Reimair and the beautiful Stina Quagebeur).  We see the mother suffering from consumption and, as she dies, she is held aloft by the puppeteers (mercifully there are no puppets in the production, only puppeteers) who manipulate her white ‘cloak’  like wings as if she is flying up to heaven with the most lovely look of serenity on Quagebeur’s face.  The other is at the end of Act I when the four Fates (who replace the fairy godmother in this production) plus two others become the horses to draw Cinderella’s coach which is mesmerisingly put together by men in black manipulating wheels and Cinderella herself borne aloft in a spectacular one-handed Bolshoi lift by another man in black, who is sadly uncredited but deserves a medal for his strength in maintaining this lift and running at the same time as the ‘coach’ and Cinderella make a complete circuit of the arena with Cinderella’s train billowing out behind.  This drew spontaneous and extremely well deserved applause from the entire audience on both evenings.  The reliance on back projections to act as scenery has a downside in that the screen is so tall that the orchestra on their raised platform are completely hidden from view, until they are revealed but still behind the screen in the ballroom scene.  The screen does the sound no favours, especially for those sitting close to it, which is a shame as the orchestra play the score magnificently under the baton of Maestro Gavin Sutherland who, as with all these arena productions, has to follow the dancers on a small screen.  Another thing I do not like is the reliance on cheap humour in places, such reactions to the huge bosom of Madame by both the young prince and his friend and the friend’s father (a woefully underused Michael Coleman).  In fact, apart from the excellent dancing of the two youngsters (Matteo Bynoe and Ayan Hall-Jurkovic), this is a scene which could be cut with no detriment to the storyline.  There are also crude references to the bad breath of stepsister Edwina, who also appears to have had an orgy with four courtiers after the ball (is that really necessary? – at least in the proscenium production it is just one courtier) and I find the depiction of a  one-legged girl who wants to try on the golden slipper particularly disrespectful to the disabled.

 

Having had my rant about what I dislike about the production, there are of course wonderful performances.  With her waif-like appearance, Alina Cojocaru is ideally cast as Cinderella, immediately gaining the audience’s sympathy as she mourns her dead mother then has to suffer bullying, particularly by stepsister Edwina and stepmother Hortensia.  I would love her to have more interesting choreography for the various solos, as to me they are just a series of step, however beautifully danced.  Tamara Rojo has great fun as the control-freak of a stepmother, looking like a demented but glamorous Jean Simmons and sporting a white streak in her hair reminiscent of Cruella de Vil, defining the term ‘stage mother’ as she pushes her daughters to perform their particularly awful dance at the ball (danced with great skill in disguising the true talent of the dancers).  Isaac Hernandez looks perfectly at home as the spirited young prince and there was a real tenderness in his partnering of Cojocaru although, again, I would have loved the choreography of the pas de deux to flow better and to reflect the rapture of the music.  There were some rather awkward lifts which were definitely the fault of the choreography and not of Hernandez, who I have mentioned before is a very secure partner.  The best choreography is left for Hernandez and Jeffrey Cirio as his friend, Ben, in their exuberant duets together.  Stepsister Edwina, danced by Emma Hawes, is the least interesting character but Hawes does her best to show her as a spoilt brat and a bully, whether towards Cinderella or her sister Clementine.  The relationship between Clementine and Ben actually becomes the most interesting and believable one in the production.  Her natural prettiness barely disguised behind a pair of thick glasses, Katja Khaniukova, as the myopic, somewhat clumsy Clementine, makes much of the role, showing that she is the only one of her family with any heart and, when Edwina tells her to kick Cinderella as she lays on the floor, gently taps her with her foot and then immediately apologises for it.  It is clear that she immediately falls for Ben from his first appearance in their home when he is disguised as the Prince, and their growing romance is beautifully portrayed by Cirio and Khaniukova.  Their energetic pas de deux at the ball, although not the best choreography, is a joy to behold.  There is a lovely moment in the last act, sadly not entirely visible to the audience on one side of the arena, when Khaniukova joins the line-up of girls to try on the golden slipper.  As he holds out the slipper, Cirio shows his disappointment that she wants to try it on but, with the most delightful smile, Khaniukova mimes that she does not want the slipper, she wants him.  It is therefore lovely that this charming couple are included in the wedding scene which concludes the ballet.  A word of praise for the hardworking Fates of James Streeter, James Forbat, Junor Souza and Francisco Bosch who drive the action forward and engage in some very energetic dancing amid their scene-shifting duties, although I would love them to have more balletic choreography to suit their formidable talents for the music those familiar with Corder’s production and Ashton’s masterpiece will recognise as the dance of the stars.  The corps de ballet also work especially hard with multiple costume and wig changes, not to mention running up and down the stairs in and out of the arena, but always appear engaged and committed, even when given not very rewarding choreography to dance.  I will be seeing at least two other casts so it will be interesting to see if the production is tweaked to overcome some of the sightline problems I have mentioned.  If anyone has not bought tickets yet, I would recommend avoiding the first five rows of the Stalls if you want to see all the action, although people around me on Thursday night, who had never been to a ballet before, enjoyed being so close to the dancers.  The cast received a well-deserved rapturous ovation from the opening night audience.

 

[Jan McNulty]

Thanks irmgard.

[Dawnstar]

Thanks for the comments on the view problems from the stalls @Irmgard. I'm hoping to see this next Friday matinee & was holding off booking to see if there were any stalls ticket offers but now I'm thinking I might have to consider sitting elsewhere.

[JNC]

Thanks for the reviews above @Irmgard and @SPD444. 

 

I was wanting to go to this to see this for Alina mainly (and as I've not seen a Cinderella live, hopefully RB for 21/22?) but I have to say I was put off by the high prices of the Albert Hall, as it seems the venue is so big you would end up being so far away from the dancers (unless you paid a lot). I hope they bring this production to the Coliseum if it is good, as I feel even in the balcony there you'd be closer to the dancers for a better price. 

[AnneL]

I saw this Cinderella done by the Dutch National Ballet at the Coliseum a few years ago and enjoyed it (although the Ashton version is still my favourite). Since then I have become better acquainted with Wheeldon’s style and I did spot similarities with Alice - and American in Paris too - this time round. I agree with a lot of Irmgard’s remarks above, but in row 7 of the stalls we actually had a pretty good view. Luckily when I booked I had a hunch that the rows nearest the arena floor would probably not have the best view, and nor did I want to be too high up. We must have been on the best side too, as could see what the little boys were doing perfectly. In fact, despite my terrible eyesight, I had a good view all evening. And while the tickets weren’t cheap, the price compared quite favourably with the Coliseum, where stalls are also quite expensive. I think the show was adapted well for the arena space.  Dancing wise, Maria Kochetkova and Jeffrey Cirio played Cinderella and the Prince and both of them were magnificent. 

[SPD444]

12 minutes ago, AnneL said:

I saw this Cinderella done by the Dutch National Ballet at the Coliseum a few years ago and enjoyed it (although the Ashton version is still my favourite). Since then I have become better acquainted with Wheeldon’s style and I did spot similarities with Alice - and American in Paris too - this time round. I agree with a lot of Irmgard’s remarks above, but in row 7 of the stalls we actually had a pretty good view. Luckily when I booked I had a hunch that the rows nearest the arena floor would probably not have the best view, and nor did I want to be too high up. We must have been on the best side too, as could see what the little boys were doing perfectly. In fact, despite my terrible eyesight, I had a good view all evening. And while the tickets weren’t cheap, the price compared quite favourably with the Coliseum, where stalls are also quite expensive. I think the show was adapted well for the arena space.  Dancing wise, Maria Kochetkova and Jeffrey Cirio played Cinderella and the Prince and both of them were magnificent. 

 

Sorry AnneL but Alina played Cinderella; Maria played Clementine and the Prince was played by Isaac Hernandez; Cirio played Benjamin - his friend.

Edited June 9, 2019 by SPD444

[AnneL]

2 minutes ago, SPD444 said:

 

Sorry AnneL but the Prince was played by Isaac Hernandez; Cirio played Benjamin - his friend.

Not yesterday (Saturday) evening- it was Cirio then. 

Edited June 9, 2019 by AnneL

[SPD444]

1 minute ago, AnneL said:

Not yesterday evening- it was Cirio then. 

 

 

I do apologise AnneL, my mind was on opening night.  I should be more careful.

[ctas]

Have to echo the above on yesterday evening’s performance, the lead dancers were just lovely. I very much enjoyed the use of the full arena space and how the atmosphere was when the full company were on stage. 

[Irmgard]

I attended the Sunday performance to see what a different cast would bring to the production and my gripes about the production in general still stand.  This time my seat was in the Grand Tier, which is the row of boxes above the Stalls.  Sitting in the third row of the box, I had an excellent view of all the special effects (projections on the screen, projections on the floor etc.) and saw a lot that I had missed at the dress rehearsal and opening night, sitting in the first few rows of the Stalls.  My seat was also at the ‘front’ of the arena which did mean that I could not see what happened in about the first ten feet of the arena.  However, at the other performances, I noticed that very little happened in this area, so perhaps some sightlines have been taken into consideration.  I looked very hard for lovely floor patterns (captured in some of the publicity photos) but didn’t really notice any so perhaps these are only fully visible to those in the Gallery.  I have to conclude that the best seats to see all the special effects and still be able to see the dancers clearly are probably the boxes at the back of the Stalls, for anyone who is still planning to see the show. 

 

This performance was led by the exquisite Erina Takahashi who has been dancing Cinderella almost since she joined the company.  Indeed, I remember sitting in the upper reaches of the Coliseum (never again!) because it was the only seat I could get for her matinée with Jan-Erik Wikström in Michael Corder’s production, probably on its third or fourth outing at the Coliseum.  I was enchanted by her then and I was enchanted by her all over again on Sunday.  She has performed in all the company’s productions at the Royal Albert Hall and she knows how to project to its vast reaches so that everyone in the audience is totally involved with her character.  Whereas Cojocaru remained wistful throughout most of the ballet, Takahashi expresses a whole gamut of emotions, from distress when she is first confronted by her new stepsisters, clinging onto her mother’s headstone as if the sisters have intruded into her most private thoughts, curiosity when they invite her to dance with them, and incomprehension when first the stepmother and then Edwina is mean to her.  There is such sad resignation in her body when she is serving her stepfamily and father, as the table is manoeuvred round the arena by the Fates, and then this changes to a delightful mischievousness followed by a quiet joy as she and the prince, disguised as a hobo, dance on the table when the family has departed.  She really becomes involved in the dances of the four seasons, with a lovely expression of wonderment.  Her emergence in her ballgown with train flowing as she ran around the arena, was magical, with the most radiant of smiles which lit up the auditorium.  This led to what has to be the production’s coup de théâtre, the coach ride around the arena.  As a small correction to my previous post, the man holding Cinderella aloft does not run but he walks very fast!  Takahashi also makes the most of her solos, ironing out the awkwardness of the steps with her lyricism and exquisite footwork. 

 

Her prince is Joseph Caley who is genial but a bit bland. I preferred the coltish charm of Isaac Hernandez and the sheer brio of his dancing in this vast space.  However, Caley’s dancing is beautifully neat and elegant, and he partners Takahashi extremely sympathetically, bringing a much-needed rapture into the inherently unromantic choreography for their pas de deux.  Caley is especially well matched by Barry Drummond as Ben, both of whom use their feet beautifully, not least in their wonderfully soft landings from jumps, and have a true sense of classical line.  It is lovely to see Drummond finally featured in a major role, especially as he has huge charm and, like Takahashi, a smile to light up the auditorium.

 

Fabian Reimair, as Cinderella’s father, brings a touch of class to the production with his palpable grief at losing his wife, his flight from her graveside being a truly touching moment. Cinderella’s mother was the beautiful Angela Wood who does appear truly angelic as she hovers over the child Cinderella with a benevolent serenity, her ‘wings’ skilfully manoeuvred by the puppeteers.  The always elegant Sarah Kundi is more of an uptight control freak than Tamara Rojo as the stepmother, subtler in her initial mistreatment of Cinderella, but definitely a force to be reckoned with, and this made her loss of control as she descends into drunkenness at the ball even funnier, especially in the pas de deux with the hapless Reimair (always a master of comic timing) trying to stop her from grabbing any more champagne from the obliging waiters.  Alison McWhinney plays against type by showing that Edwina’s beauty is only skin deep as she bullies Clementine and Cinderella and disguises her lovely technique as she tries to do the same roll on the floor that Clementine manages so effortlessly in the duet in the ballroom, ending up in an ungainly heap on the floor not once but twice.  As at the previous performance, it is the lovely relationship between Clementine and Ben that moves the heart.  Here, Clementine was danced by Anjuli Hudson in a delightfully gauche yet adorable manner, trying whenever she could to apologise to Cinderella for the meanness of her mother and sister and obviously loving finally having a father-figure in her life from the way she leapt on Reimair like a young child at every opportunity.  The blossoming romance between her and Drummond was a joy to behold, especially given the lovely chemistry between them whether dancing together or just looking at each other.  Once again, the hardworking corps de ballet danced with great energy and enthusiasm, belying the fact that this was their sixth performance in four days, not to mention all the dress rehearsals since arriving at the Hall at the beginning of last week.  Overall, this still feels more like a West End spectacle rather than a ballet but there are some wonderful performances to savour and I look forward to seeing at least one more change of cast before the end of the run.

[CCL]

Lovely review Irmgard, thank you. I’m going this evening and shall post a few thoughts tomorrow.

[cavycapers]

My heart was sinking a bit as this evening approached,  having read tales of projection and puppets, especially after seeing the sublime Naghdi and Ball in R and J last night. so go,  like me,  with limited expectations and have a lovely,  glorious evening!   Pure ballet fans will not be blown away by Wheeldon's choreography (I love Bintley's Cinderella much more, ditto John Macfarlane's divine costumes) but it was much more than the sum of its parts, a gorgeous,  swirling spectacle.  The sheer hard work of everyone involved was so evident at every point, and there was such attention to detail (even to the backstagers wheeling on the props - the one bringing on Cinderella's mother's tombstone was dressed as an undertaker just for the sake of a moment's appearance)  From my seat,  I watched eight people feeding long strips of material back into a machine which took them all of the interval to do,  only for it to be raised up to the ceiling and dropped down again for a five minute effect.   Amazing. 

 

I had also forgotten what a fine dancer Jeffrey Cirio is!  Fine courtly and comic acting by turns,  clearly delighted by his prize, secure in his partnering,  he filled up the whole of the massive stage.   And he has a lovely b - ballon!  🤣  Do go if you can. 

[Tatiana]

Thank you for these lovely reviews. I'm beyond jealous as I couldn't afford tickets and I love Profokiev's Cinderella.

[Terpsichore]

I was also in the audience on Sunday and enjoyed it. This is the third of ENB's ballets in the round and I think this is the best. Indeed, it is one of the best performances from that company that I have seen in almost 60 years of fairly regular ballet going.

Having seen the Dutch National Ballet's performances at the Coliseum in 2015 and in the Stopera just before Christmas I am quite familiar with the choreography. libretto, designs and special effects. I think it scaled up very well.  I enjoyed some of the projections - the horns, blushes and scowls of the portraits on the palace for example.

I quite like being in the stalls.  I was just a few seats from the gangway so it gave me a chance to admire the costumes, hair and makeup of the artists.

I agree that Takahashi was excellent. Caley danced well though I preferred Goulding when I saw him in the prince#s role in London in 2015 and Wortmeyer when I saw him in Amsterdam last year.

There was a lot of clowning by Kundi as the step mum when she got a little bit tight in the second act and even more when she appeared at the breakfast table with one almighty hangover.  I like Kundi and have followed her ever since she was at Leeds. It is always a treat to see her.

I have of course written a fuller review for my blog as I always do if anyone is interested..

[Dawnstar]

25 minutes ago, Tatiana said:

Thank you for these lovely reviews. I'm beyond jealous as I couldn't afford tickets and I love Profokiev's Cinderella.

 

I'm baffled that there do not seem to be discounts for this. I'm intending to go tomorrow afternoon but have held off booking as, with about half the seats for that performance still showing as available on the RAH website, I was sure there would be offers. However I can't find any, & that performance was not included in the now expired Telegraph & Time Out offers. I'm now trying to decide whether to go for a cheap set in the gods, from where I won't be able to see the acting & therefore probably won't enjoy it much, or to fork out considerably more money than I wanted to pay to be near enough to see properly.

[CCL]

Dawnstar, is the Ticketmaster offer mentioned in the relevant thread no longer running?

[Dawnstar]

It is but it too does not include the Friday matinee, only Friday evening, Saturday evening & Sunday matinee. I particularly want to see the Hawes/Frola cast, after being so impressed by Frola's Des Grieux in January, and as I'm already in London tomorrow, for a second viewing of the RB triple bill, I don't want to go back down again on Sunday.

[CCL]

Ah, ok. I can understand you wanting to see the Hawes/ Frola cast, and I too was really impressed with Frola’s Des Grieux (and his Prince Siegfried and his Nutcracker Nephew!) however I would highly recommend any cast of this production- Cojocaru and Hernández were a delight on Tuesday (still compiling my review!)

[Irmgard]

On Wednesday 12 June, guest artist Maria Kochetkova took on the role of Cinderella.  I have not seen her since she left ENB, at soloist level I believe, to join San Francisco Ballet about twelve years ago.  I remember her beautiful Russian style and lovely, fleet footwork, especially running en pointe when she was so light that she appeared to fly.  All these qualities were present in her Cinderella, with her body responding rapturously to Prokofiev’s magnificent score, particularly in the pas de deux so that, partnered by the warmly responsive Jeffrey Cirio as her prince, these were imbued with the romantic quality not inherent in the choreography but which it so desperately needed.  And she did indeed look lighter than air just before the final scene when the Fates lifted her beautifully to retrieve her golden slipper from the mantelpiece. (A slight digression here about ENB not announcing cast changes as at both this performance, and the previous evening which I also attended, Aitor Arrieta replaced Francisco Bosch as one of the Fates, who play such an important part in the production, yet no announcement was made which I feel is very disrespectful to the dancers.)  

 

I do not know if Kochetkova’s eye make-up was too subtle or she has yet to discover the projection needed for the auditorium, but I did not find her face particularly expressive, which made her Cinderella less interesting than her stepfamily, played by three of the company’s leading ballerinas (what luxury casting!).  They are also three of ENB’s most soulful Odettes but, having realised there are no dramatic depths to the characters in this production (Wheeldon’s production has the sisters behaving like eight-year- olds rather than teenagers), they played them for laughs, which they gave us in abundance. The beautiful Fernanda Oliveira, making an extremely welcome return to the stage after a prolonged absence, portrayed Edwina as a narcissistic ‘mini-me’ of her mother, who had to be the centre of attention at all times and either lashed out at her sister or went into a deep sulk if she wasn’t.  Her facial expressions were an absolute picture without ever descending into mugging. Watching her antics on the sofa at the back of the stage during Cinderella’s dancing in the ballroom, when she hung her legs over the side of the sofa and moved her feet to the music in such a bored fashion, was actually more entertaining than the choreography for Cinderella.  Oliveira’s Swanilda established her as an accomplished comedienne a number of years ago but the revelation was the lovely Shiori Kase as her much-put-upon sister, Clementine, whose reaction to every insult and injury from Oliveira was priceless and bound to win her the audience’s affection.  With both dancers disguising the natural beauty of their dancing, their awful duet at the ball was a comic delight, especially when Edwina was unable to perform the same rolls on the floor as Clementine and Oliveira ended up in a humiliating heap after both painfully unsuccessful attempts at a somersault.  Presiding over them was the magnificent Begoña Cao as their tiger-mother, Hortensia.  With her costume and wig (complete with white streak) resembling the stepmother in Disney’s classic cartoon “Cinderella” but her amazing cheekbones and elegant glamour more suggestive of Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent, Cao ruled the family through a mixture of fear and awe.  From her first appearance with her new husband (Fabian Reimair, who appears to be single-cast for the entire run), she moved like a predatory black widow spider and, when impatient with Cinderella at their first encounter, drummed her long fingers on her folded arms with a deceptive languor that was full of menace.  When relegated to the sofa at the back of the ballroom after their disastrous encounter with the royal couple, with Oliveira reluctant to make room for the hapless Kase who ended up squished between the two of them, it was more fascinating to watch Cao become steadily inebriated, sending the waiter off for yet another glass of champagne, than the dancing (however beautifully performed) happening in the rest of the arena.  Her ensuing drunken dance with the champagne glasses, aided and abetted by Reimair’s wonderful support, was the comic highlight of the performance as her elegance disintegrated, .  The expression on her face, and especially in her huge eyes, as she covered her glass with her hand so as not to spill a drop of it while Reimair turned her in arabesque by grabbing her raised leg, was  an absolute picture.  Then that final, slow backbend when Reimair held her raised leg in front, showed her fabulous technique being used to wonderful comic effect.  I only wish I had been sitting on the other side of the auditorium so that I could have seen her facial expression as she began her descent.  But her drunk act did not end there.  After Reimair had dragged her back to the sofa, with a silly grin on her face all the way, she proceeded to sleep off the alcohol in a very comic but natural way.  In fact, all three ladies kept their characters interesting with tiny details even when not visible to most of the audience, showing exemplary stagecraft.  Cao’s hangover the next morning was equally as comic as she tried to regain her dignity and then she became truly demented as she tried to hammer the golden slipper onto Edwina’s foot.  This was another comic moment from Oliveira, who is possessed of the most gloriously arched feet:  sitting on top of the table, she wiggled the toes of her bare foot, displaying that beautiful arch, with a grin on her face as if her character thought this toe-wiggling would entice the prince. 

 

Having seen Jeffrey Cirio as Ben last week, and with the roles of the prince and Ben being quite similar, I think I was as confused as the two sisters are at the ball when they see the two of them together!  Ben at this performance was danced by Francisco Gabriele Frola who was an excellent match for Cirio in their exuberant duets. Just as Cirio was charm personified as the prince, so was Frola as Ben, particularly when he helped the dejected Kase up from the floor where Oliveira left her at the end of their duet.  So, yet again, this tender romance between Ben and Clementine was the heart of the ballet for me with the rest of it brought to life by the wonderful comedy team of Cao, Oliveira and Kase.

 

[alison]

4 hours ago, CCL said:

Dawnstar, is the Ticketmaster offer mentioned in the relevant thread no longer running?

 

No, it isn't.  I too am surprised that there don't appear to have been any other offers, considering that there's a nice Promo code box at the top of the page.

[Joanna]

I'm going to go to this this afternoon but haven't booked a ticket yet (I too was holding off to see if there were any offers).   Price wise I'm looking at either the Stalls seats nearest the Choir (on either side) i.e. the cheapest block of Stalls seats, or the front row of the Rausing Circle.   I imagine that from the Rausing Circle I will get a decent view of the patterns but will miss out on facial expression, but I'm wondering why the Stalls seats nearest the Choir are some £30 less than those further around, and if there is a significant lack of view of the main action (the seats aren't described as restricted view but I imagine there must be some loss of facility involved to justify the price difference).    Would anyone who has already been be able to clarify this for me?

[capybara]

Although the production is 'in the round', the cheaper Stalls seats tend to have a side-on or, even, a back view of the action. But, perhaps influenced by the price, I like it there!

[Joanna]

Many thanks Capybara.  I'm happy with that compromise for the price!

[Dawnstar]

14 hours ago, CCL said:

Ah, ok. I can understand you wanting to see the Hawes/ Frola cast, and I too was really impressed with Frola’s Des Grieux (and his Prince Siegfried and his Nutcracker Nephew!) however I would highly recommend any cast of this production- Cojocaru and Hernández were a delight on Tuesday (still compiling my review!)

 

There are dancers I'd like to see in most of the casts but with the high ticket prices I can only afford to go the once, so had to decide who was my priority.

 

I'm on a train to London now. I should get to the RAH about 1.40pm so I'm just going to go to the box office & see what they've got. At least I'll save on the rather high booking fees.

[CCL]

I very much enjoyed Tuesday evening’s performance. This ‘Cinderella’ is definitely a ‘spectacle’, and as such, I found that at times I was not paying as close attention to the steps as I would usually because I was constantly being ‘wowed’ by the beautiful projections and clever staging. Nevertheless, I found myself by turns moved, enthralled and amused, and overall felt it was a delightful production from start to finish.

I booked before casts were published, and would really have been happy with any cast, but I felt an extra sense of delight when I realised it would be Alina Cojocaru dancing Cinderella. Her sweet face and vivid, expressive dancing made her, for me, the perfect Cinders – she brought out all of the character’s goodness and gentleness.  Isaac Hernandez is a dancer I could happily watch in any role, and his joyful dancing as the Prince was beautiful to behold. The RAH is such a huge space but Wheeldon’s choreography for their PDDs still felt intimate and touching and I had tears in my eyes at the end. 

I personally really liked the use of the four Fates in place of a Fairy Godmother character. Their choreography was much more contemporary than classical, and I was fascinated by their sinewy, acrobatic movements, as well as their stillness at certain points – suggesting their constant vigilance, guidance and support of Cinderella.

I’m in full agreement with those who have said earlier how strong the acting is within the ranks of ENB – I particularly liked Sarah Kundi as the stepmother – she impressed me greatly last year, too, as Carabosse – and the step-sisters’ dances, especially at the ball, were well-judged.

The big set pieces such as the seasons and the waltzing couples at the ball were a visual delight, and I can’t finish without mentioning how utterly gorgeous the score sounded – played expertly by the orchestra and conducted by Maestro Gavin Sutherland, who rightly got a huge cheer at the end. This really was a lovely evening!

 

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[alison]

Anyone planning on going to this production this weekend should be aware that there is no District and Circle Line service on most of the line, including the area around South Kensington.

[Dawnstar]

On 14/06/2019 at 11:40, capybara said:

Although the production is 'in the round', the cheaper Stalls seats tend to have a side-on or, even, a back view of the action. But, perhaps influenced by the price, I like it there!

 

I ended up going for a £40 stalls seat block G row 7 seat 7 yesterday afternoon as it was the best the box office offered me about 15 mins before the performance. I was then highly annoyed when I got a text from my aunt, who had also come on spec, saying she had been able to buy a seat for £35 much nearer the centre of the stalls! Given there were only a other people in the entire row & block G I asked an usher if I could move round & was told I could at the first interval so at least I saw Acts 2 & 3 from only 3 seats in from the next aisle round, which was a much better angle.

 

I thought the production was alright but no amazing. Compared to R&J, Prokofiev seemed to have less inspiration for Cinderella. I only found one melody really attractive. Wheeldon's choreography I likewise found decent rather than brilliant. This is the third ballet of his I've seen & I do dislike his habit of sometimes having the female dancers flex rather than point their feet, though at least that didn't feature too often here. I don't think I'll be rushing to see any ballet in the round again as I found the frequent movement of people or pieces of set on or off stage to be rather frenetic at times. The final scene in Act 1 with all the seasons & strangely-costumed groups baffled me. It didn't seem to do anything to contribute to the plot & felt like it was there purely to give the corps more to do.

 

I wanted to see this cast in order to see Frola again, after being extremely impressed with his Des Grieux, and I really liked him again in this. I thought Emma Hawes was very good as Cinerella, though en pointe she seemed perhaps a little tall for Frola. I see they both dance for the National Ballet of Canada. Does anyone know if they are often partnered together there? The rest of the cast all seemed to give good performances, though some of the casting required a certain suspension of belief in order for the plot to work! I was pleased to spot Alison McWhinney as one of the Winter dancers.

 

Long fingers seem to be in fashion in ballet: first Kostchei in Firebird & then both one of the Princesses & the Conkers in this!

Edited June 15, 2019 by Dawnstar

[Irmgard]

 

11 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

 

 

 

I thought the production was alright but no amazing. Compared to R&J, Prokofiev seemed to have less inspiration for Cinderella. I only found one melody really attractive. Wheeldon's choreography I likewise found decent rather than brilliant. This is the third ballet of his I've seen & I do dislike his habit of sometimes having the female dancers flex rather than point their feet, though at least that didn't feature too often here. I don't think I'll be rushing to see any ballet in the round again as I found the frequent movement of people or pieces of set on or off stage to be rather frenetic at times. The final scene in Act 1 with all the seasons & strangely-costumed groups baffled me. It didn't seem to do anything to contribute to the plot & felt like it was there purely to give the corps more to do.

 

Dawnstar, I am surprised by your reaction to the music for “Cinderella” as I have had lovely melodies swirling around in my head since the dress rehearsal.  I would say that “Cinderella” is magical, as befits a fairy story (although I lament the lack of a fairy godmother in this production) whereas “Romeo and Juliet” is passionate.  As you saw the Friday matinée, you did not have Maestro Sutherland at the helm and I expect this makes a difference (as I will find out this afternoon).  I agree with your comments about Wheeldon.  I, too, hate his use of flexed feet, which I especially noticed in “Within the Golden Hour”, for no apparent purpose apart from destroying the line of some of the most beautiful feet and legs on the planet! 

 

I was at last night’s performance (15^th) and again it was a mixed bag. Cojocaru did not always look particularly comfortable last night, which may have been issues with her shoes, but she looked radiant as she circled the auditorium atop her fabulous coach.  Similarly, Rojo did not seem as ‘into’ the Stepmother as I have previously seen her so the comedy was not quite as well done.  However, I think it would be hard for anyone to match the towering comic performance of Begoña Cao that I saw on Wednesday.  She brought this same comic brilliance to the ghastly role of the Russian princess (a role really beneath her position as one of the company’s leading principal dancers, as is the solo in Spring which Shiori Kase is performing when she is not Clementine which gets lost amongst the corps de ballet), threatening to steal the scene in the few minutes she was onstage for this.  Dancing honours went to Hernandez who provided the pizzazz the performance needed with his wonderful, joyful leaps, especially in his duets with the very classy Cirio as Ben.  Yet again, the most poignant moment for me comes in the ballroom scene when Clementine has been pushed to the ground by her sister and is lying in side splits with her face on the ground.  Khaniukova’s crumpled body expressed such humiliation and dejection as she lay there.  Then Cirio helped her up and tenderly adjusted her glasses, and the moment they just looked at each other spoke volumes.  It helps that this happens to the gorgeous, other-worldly music heralding Cinderella’s arrival.  In the second-last performance of the run, the corps de ballet, most of whom have done every performance, looked as fresh and enthusiastic as on opening night.