The gilt carriage of Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella has been around the block a few times since he first choreographed it for Washington Ballet, in 1970. It is close to being ubiquitous in the USA: in the repertoire of American Ballet Theatre, Colorado Ballet, Nevada Ballet Theatre, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Philadelphia Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet, Texas Ballet Theater, Tulsa Ballet amongst several others. It crossed the Atlantic to enter Norwegian National Ballet’s itinerary - known there as Askepott – in 1996.
Although his career has been based in the USA for over 50 years, Stevenson was born in Portsmouth and his early career was at the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet, joining the company in 1954, just six years after Frederick Ashton made Cinderella his first full-length ballet. So, it’s not surprising that this English heritage fed through into Stevenson’s own creation. Myriad similarities include the English pantomime dame legacy portrayed through the stepsisters traditionally being performed by two of the company's biggest male dancers in drag, one nervous and the other bossy (exactly as characterised by Ashton and Robert Helpmann for so many years) and the quaint introduction of oranges as a much sought-after palace delicacy.
Although Stevenson’s Cinderella has travelled a lot, like Ashton, he axed the Prokofiev music for the prince’s own round-the-world journey at the beginning of Act 3, seeking that dainty foot to fit the errant slipper. As a result, it appears that the Prince and his entourage just guessed lucky first time when hightailing it straight to Cinderella’s home to find the mystery girl and Act 3 is so short that it hardly merits the interval before it.
A different kind of “Cinderella” story underlays this performance since Daniela Cabrera was not originally cast to play the title role, her chance coming just a couple of weeks before this show when Whitney Jensen was ruled out due to injury. Cabrera grabbed her opportunity with aplomb, performing with all the grace and dignity that the role requires. She spins beautifully and dances with great discipline and – most importantly – flow, conquering her challenging variation in the Act 2 grand pas de deux with alacrity.
Stevenson’s storyline is more brutal and there is an uncomfortable silent episode in the first act (the orchestra takes a couple of pauses from Prokofiev) where the stepmother (played with regal malevolence by Cina Espejord) violently slaps Cinderella, which makes the latter’s later magnanimity towards her step-family – after she is outed as the prince’s mysterious paramour – all the more poignant. I love the incident where a stepsister hilariously misses out on an orange at the ball and Cinderella presents her with her own “exotic” fruit (the stepsister not knowing, of course, who her benefactor is). Cabrera’s journey from the kindly but abused servant to the glittering “princess” was acutely observed and it was a pleasure to witness this significant achievement from the substitute’s bench!
The role of the Prince is thinly drawn and he doesn’t appear until Act 2. I prefer it when there is something of a back-story to his attraction for Cinderella (a chance meeting in the forest or – as in Christopher Wheeldon’s production – a childhood friendship). Here, the Prince has a sudden premonition of Cinderella’s arrival at the Ball, which becomes a thunderbolt of love at first sight. Alex Cuadros Joglar is as handsome and princely a prince as one could wish for, with an aristocratic bearing and a military precision to his technique.
Ole Johannes Slåttebrekk and Leonardo Basilio played the two unnamed stepsisters (just identified as 1 and 2) with all the required humour, tinged with a necessary touch of pathos. Their efforts at dressing up, learning to dance – much to the exasperation of the dancing master (a popinjay performance by Alberto Ballester) and trying on the slipper were, of course, hilarious. Astrid Lyngstad played the Good Fairy (Den Gode Fe) with the palpable sense of benevolent magic, although the role is little more than a master-of-ceremonies, introducing the four seasonal fairy solos, danced prettily by Natasha Dale (spring), Elise Nøkling-Eide (summer), Sonia Vinograd (autumn) and Youngseo Ko (winter). Aarne Kristian Ruutu brought a sense of resigned dignity and empathy to the put-upon role of the father. The audience’s standing ovation grew all-the-louder in their well-deserved appreciation of Gabriel Gudim’s remarkable virtuosity and athleticism in the role of the Jester. His huge jumps in box splits straight into multiple tours en l'air brought tears to my eyes!
Although I am heaping praise on the performances onstage, the greatest credit should go to a magnificent performance of the (albeit truncated) Prokofiev score by the Opera House’s resident orchestra under the direction of Ukrainian conductor, Alexei Baklan, who allowed the music to flow and soar. It was a privilege to hear as well as see this show.
There is no denying that Stevenson's production – as is true for the Ashton choreography – is somewhat dated (sets especially) and it must now be a question of how much longer the value of its historic interest will outweigh more contemporary considerations.
Graham's trip was paid for by Norwegian National Opera and Ballet
