Scottish Ballet's new festive production - Cinders!

[AllAboutTheJourney]

I hope it's ok to start a thread about this new production, which opens in Glasgow on Saturday and runs there until Hogmanay. It will then move to Edinburgh and tour to Aberdeen, Inverness and Newcastle.

 

Essentially, some nights the title role of Cinders will be danced by a man and some nights it will be danced by a woman. When Cinders is danced by a male principal, he will meet a princess at the ball and when Cinders is a female principal, she will meet the prince. There is an element of surprise each night as it has not been publicly announced at which performances Cinders will be a man and when Cinders will be a woman.

 

Saturday’s links include a NY Times article which is well worth a read – it’s pretty in-depth and it sounds like the dancers and the production team are all really invested in this. The Hardcorps podcast episode with Jessica Fyfe is also worth listening to – she talks about how simple movements like offering an upturned hand to Cinders to welcome him into her own palace felt completely new and different to being the person who generally reciprocates the action and accepts the hand of the male lead.  Likewise, the clips which Scottish Ballet have shared on social media show Bruno Micchiardi dancing Cinders with a sense of vulnerability and timidity that you don’t often see from male dancers in classical ballets.

 

This run will also include Bethany Kingsley- Garner’s final performance before she retires from her 17 year performing career with Scottish Ballet.  

 

I personally love the concept and am very much looking forward to opening night!

[alison]

48 minutes ago, AllAboutTheJourney said:

I hope it's ok to start a thread about this new production,

 

Absolutely.  Thank you

[ChrisG]

Looking forward to seeing this in Edinburgh in January!

[Peanut68]

Is it heading further South at all? 

[alisonruss]

The company is making its annual visit to the Theatre Royal, Newcastle with this production in early February. Performances scheduled for 7 - 10 February 2024.

 

Their visit to Sadler's Wells in May 2024 is with Streetcar Named Desire, revived earlier this year.

[alison]

... which is also very worth seeing.

[Emeralds]

Curious to find out what members here think of the surprise element- ie that you won't be told in advance when you book or before the show if you will get a female Cinderella and Prince, or a male Cinders and Princess. When the production was announced on social media, there were a number of protests- not so much because of the gender swapping, but because people wanted to know what they were going to see. 

 

While most of the objection was to getting a male Cinders when they wanted a female one, there were also a number of contributors who said they were looking forward to a fresh take on the story with a male Cinders and Princess, and would be a little disappointed to get the conventional version. Booking two shows won't help, as you may actually still end up with two  versions that are identical and not what you were interested in seeing. Never mind our expectations and wishes about casting- this is a case of not even being told which production and choreography youll be seeing! (The choreography is slighrly altered to be suitable for different gendered dancers- ie the ballerina won't be attempting to lift the man or do double tours, or the man attempting double pirouettes or fouettes on pointe). 😉 The only way you can be guaranteed to see the version you want is to book and attend every performance!

 

What do members  think of this surprise element?  Would you embrace or cope with not knowing which version/production you will get? (The dancers are all being rehearsed in both versions so knowing the casting offers no clues as to which version they will dance.)  As I can't attend every night (even if Scottish Ballet brought this production and "format" to Sadler's Wells) I think it would work for me only because  I've never seen their existing Cinderella before. I  both understand how their regulars who are protesting feel, but equally as I don't see much of the company, I would probably book to see their dancers and won't be as bothered about what I'm actually seeing them dance.

 

 

Edited December 9, 2023 by Emeralds

[alison]

It feels a bit like trying to get a specific Matthew Bourne cast during a long Sadler's Wells run to me.  Do you mean that ballerina A and ballerino B will be cast together at all their performances regardless, but that you don't know which of them will be Cinders?  That way you would at least be able to book for specified dancers, but it would be an awful lot of extra work for the leading dancers.

[Emeralds]

13 hours ago, alison said:

It feels a bit like trying to get a specific Matthew Bourne cast during a long Sadler's Wells run to me.  Do you mean that ballerina A and ballerino B will be cast together at all their performances regardless, but that you don't know which of them will be Cinders?  That way you would at least be able to book for specified dancers, but it would be an awful lot of extra work for the leading dancers.

Yes, that's correct. In the article, principal dancer Bruno Micchiardi says they've all been rehearsing two versions, so he is rehearsing the standard Prince role, while also preparing the male Cinders role (those who have seen him rehearse as the male Cinders say he's really good- emphasising the vulnerability of the man in Cinderella's  position). 

 

I guess it's a bit like companies rotating two productions over Christmas or at any other time of the year, eg when Don Quixote overlapped with Anemoi/Cellist at ROH. I think the only tricky bit is whether anyone might get confused about which version they are doing  on certain days, especially on a two show day. Eg if you were covering someone's injury at the last minute and there's no clue in the sets and costumes as to what you're dancing, and it's only stipulated on one casting sheet or a verbal announcement.

 

Maybe the company has a code for it eg "Places please, for Woman  Cinders" (and "Cinders Man")  or something like that?? 😀 I don't know if they are sticking to the same partners throughout other than when covering someone's unexpected illness/injury/etc. I'm guessing they are? 

 

My feeling from the initial fan reaction is that maybe they should done one third of the performances as standard Cinders, one third male Cinders, and one third a surprise.  It's interesting because they're experimenting with not one but two innovations, and if it succeeds or doesn't, they wouldn't know which it was that caused it (the surprise or the reboot). I have a feeling that some people who used to attend regularly with families might give it a miss if they weren't sure if the reboot and the surprise element would go down well with very young or very old family members, or themselves.

 

Of course, the idea of a male Cinderella or Cinders in entertainment isn't new- there was the 1960 Hollywood film,  Cinderfella,  with Jerry Lewis as a male Cinders, where the wicked stepsisters are stepbrothers, and there's a ball being given by a Princess. There have been low key small  productions in panto and theatre, I believe, but I think it's a first for a professional ballet company. 

 

I like the innovation! But if I were the management I wouldn't be "adventurous" enough (especially in these economic times) to risk selling it as a surprise format for the whole run. Only for one show per venue! But for this production, were they to bring it south eg to Sadler's Wells, I myself would be happy with the surprise format. 

[AllAboutTheJourney]

I’ll share some thoughts about opening night in a minute, but wanted to answer this point first. I quite like the surprise element, though I can see that if you are a regular ballet go-er, particularly RBS, and you are used to choosing which dancers you want to see, that it might seem a little odd. I would hazard a guess, though, that the vast majority of people who are going to see a Scottish Ballet production over Christmas will not be booking a specific date to see a particular dancer (in fact I would imagine that most would not be able to name that many of the dancers).

 

There were a few grumbly comments on Facebook when the new production was announced, but from memory they were more along the lines of ‘I like tradition, why change it’ and ‘Aw I liked your old version’ rather than ‘Well how will I know what night to book to see Dancer X in the role of both Cinders and the Princess?’ etc. My sense is that overall people are quite intrigued by the new version and think it’s a great concept, but there will always be a few people who don’t like any kind of change. I saw one comment saying ‘don’t make ballet political’ which made me laugh as I hardly think you could call this particular ballet ‘political’ – it’s literally a Cinderella story with a slight twist.

[AllAboutTheJourney]

On 10/12/2023 at 00:12, alison said:

It feels a bit like trying to get a specific Matthew Bourne cast during a long Sadler's Wells run to me.  Do you mean that ballerina A and ballerino B will be cast together at all their performances regardless, but that you don't know which of them will be Cinders?  That way you would at least be able to book for specified dancers, but it would be an awful lot of extra work for the leading dancers.

 

So the website does now show the names of the 2 principal dancers for each performance, but it doesn't say which role they will be playing that particular night (Cinders or Prince/Princess). There are some pairings who do the majority of their shows together, but not exclusively. 

[AllAboutTheJourney]

Just wanted to update this thread to say that I loved the new production and am looking forward to seeing it again later in the run. We had a male Cinders on opening night (Bruno Micchiardi) and Jess Fyffe playing Princess Louise. Both were excellent, but particularly in the pas de deux sections where they seemed to really relax into the choreo. As has been said above, Bruno’s Cinders was at times affectingly timid and shy, especially when clearly experiencing imposter syndrome at the (beautiful!) Royal Ball.

 

One of my favourite sections of the ballet, though, was when he was dancing joyously alone, remembering the night before, clearly dreaming of his Princess. I’m not sure I’ve ever really seen a man portraying that kind of happy, day-dreamy, romanticism (not just in ballet but in film/TV etc too) whereas it’s such a common scene for a woman to play out.

 

In terms of the other characters, 2 sisters and a brother replace the ‘ugly stepsisters’, each of whom is very funny in their own way. The emerging gay love story is nicely done and the corps look gorgeous, particularly in the lavish ball scenes and set against the art-nouveau style set.

 

There were a lot of laughs, and I think this will turn into a real family favourite of a festive ballet. I’ll be interested to see it with a female Cinders but to be honest I think both versions are going to be equally beautiful, just with slight nuances in the choreo of course.

 

There are some beautiful photos online as well as a BBC news article which I imagine will be in tomorrow’s links. Piers Morgan doesn’t like the whole concept but hey – take from that what you will…!

[Ondine]

12 minutes ago, AllAboutTheJourney said:

Piers Morgan doesn’t like

 

No well. One day he'll maybe explode and it will be messy. 😌

[Pas de Quatre]

Male happy romantic daydreaming, there are lots out there. Tony in West Side Story, Freddie in My Fair Lady (On the street where you live), Curly in Oklahoma .....

[Ondine]

Plenty of male romantic yearning in ballet though, which I suppose is related!

 

There's a gorgeous clip of Dowell doing romantic yearning on John Clifford's YouTube channel

 

A search

Anthony Dowell (rare Sleeping Beauty variation by Ashton)

should bring it up. Sigh.

 

 

 

[AllAboutTheJourney]

42 minutes ago, Pas de Quatre said:

Male happy romantic daydreaming, there are lots out there. Tony in West Side Story, Freddie in My Fair Lady (On the street where you live), Curly in Oklahoma .....

 

Yes that's a fair point - I take it back then! But it was still a lovely part of the ballet. 

[Emeralds]

Thanks for the informative review, @AllAboutTheJourney! I think I had an inkling they might have chosen Male Cinders + Princess for press night to show critics the merits of retelling the tale, but I couldn't travel up for it (although I have travelled up to Edinburgh Festival from the South just for one ballet a long time ago, when there were no frequent rail strikes). Sounds like a successful ballet and I hope they can tour it to the south one day. 

[AllAboutTheJourney]

Press night is actually tonight I believe but yes, without wanting to spoil any surprises I would agree with your inkling in terms of what cast they will show! 

 

My December is pretty much filled with travel between north and south for festive ballets (I have a small parental interest in 2 - at opposite ends of the country, helpfully...!) so I have every sympathy with the distance. I do hope it is received well by critics and audiences alike and that they may bring it further south at some stage. 

[Sophoife]

Thanks for all your info and comments  @AllAboutTheJourney, I hope someone else will also post their impressions...

[Ondine]

Not gloating or anything, no, no, however I suspect today Piers Morgan will be very near exploding point. 😌

 

(It's in the news for anyone not in the know.)

 

 

 

[Alison45]

I saw Cinders at the matinee on Thursday, it was excellent. Every one I spoke to were very enthusiastic about it. It is a great addition to the festive repertoire.

[SheilaC]

I saw Scottish Ballet's Cinders at a matinee in Newcastle. and saw the male version.  Although I quite enjoyed it overall I was a bit disappointed. Beforehand I welcomed the attempt to modernise the approach but, for me at least, it didn't fully work.  The male Cinders in a shop is far less poignant than a female Cinders who's a drudge; changing the context, whilst clever in principle, weakens the impact. Altogether it made me think that it may be better to honour a fairy story, that by modernising it it becomes less effective. It's not as though the new version is any more believable although the depiction of the shop and the interactions of shop workers and customers is quite interesting.

 

At least the two sisters aren't as offensive as in Bintley's version and the smaller sister, while amusing, has softer qualities than her sister or mother, as in Ashton's version. Also, like in Ashton, there are two royal aides in the ball scene who later become suitors (one to a gay relationship with the sisters' brother). As usual there is a missed shoe- but it's sparkly, quite unlike the shoes the male Cinders wears. The appearance of Cinder's parents to produce magic, in place of the conventional Fairy Godmother, is unconvincing. But the dancers gave their all and the costumes and scenery are attractive and there's a full orchestra playing the wonderful Prokofiev score.

 

The company seems to be changing. Although I see them several times a year I didn't recognise quite a lot of the dancers and some of their best known dancers have left recently. But a lovely surprise was to recognise a dancer I used to admire greatly during Covid when I watched the Sarasota company on line: Yuri Marques. I had been hoping to see him dance with Sarasota in the summer, instead I may catch him again at Sadler's Wells in the wonderful Streetcar Named Desire.

 

 

 

 

[alison]

I do sympathise, Sheila.  I'm currently watching a recording of A Midsummer's Dream which has been sitting on my hard drive for a bit in which one of the female lovers has been replaced by a man, with all the attendant complications that involves.  To my mind it really doesn't work, and the lines, even if tweaked, don't sit comfortably on a male.

[Kate_N]

And given that there are fewer roles for women overall in the theatrical repertoire (it's not so bad in ballet) this whole "sex-swapping to be new" leaves a bit of a sour taste ... In The Dream, it might work better if one of the male lovers were replaced by a woman, but somehow (maybe  residual lesbophobia), one doesn't see that sort of substitution quite so often. 

 

I also think the decline of the practice of the pantomime  "Principal Boy" played by a young woman is an unfortunate practice. And again. it takes a whole lot of really fun roles for wonderful female performers out of their repertoire, thus diminishing their opportunities for good roles (and employment!).

Edited February 9 by Kate_N