ABT – Cinderella – 6/22 mat & eve

Back in 2006 when ABT first presented James Kudelka's Cinderella, The New York Times deemed the production  

"a choreographically enticing, visually stunning success"

and applauded the company for choosing Kudelka's  

"fresher version"

over Frederick Ashton's 1948 production which is mostly known for being danced by The Royal Ballet.  The New York Times dance critic raved that Kudelka's PdD were  

"among the most romantic"

he'd seen and that Kudelka achieved his success

"by listening closely to the music" 

The New York Times dance critic described the choreography as  

"superb," "cleverly done," and "captivating"

 

The New York Times dance critic made a point of singling out many individual performances for praise including those of Isaac Stappas, Craig Salstein, Misty Copeland, Jared Matthews, Stella Abrera, and Sascha Radetsky - all of whom performed again yesterday.   Five years have passed since that review and Abrera and Radetsky are now among those who dance the lead roles in the production - although not together.

Three cheers for The New York Times for recognizing a good ballet when it floats into The Big Apple in a big orange pumpkin carriage.

Boston loves this Kudelka production, too: "sumptuous," "eye-popping," with "inventive choreography."  Canadians love this Kudelka production, too:  "delightful," "a masterpiece," "the finest Cinderella in the world."

Kudelka probably didn't intend his Cinderella to take place in the 1920s on the outskirts of Cincinnati, Ohio, but the worn checkerboard floor, black and white checkerboard tiles in the fireplace, and the massive floor-to-ceiling glass-doored kitchen cabinetry could have come out of a typical village farmhouse in Haglund's old German-Italian hometown.  David Boechler's magnificent scenery and backdrops allowed for seamless, musical transitions from Cinderella's house to the ballroom, around the world, and back to her house.  His stylish costume designs and props conveyed the glamour of the era. 

Stella Abrera and Guillaume  Côté  (emergency guest artist from The National Ballet of Canada) led the afternoon cast.  Côté was Kudelka's first cast Prince Charming when he created this work at NBC in 2004 and he danced the role when Abrera debuted as Cinderella a few years ago.  Suave, sophisticated, Canadian classical courtesy from head to toe, Côté's technique was buttery smooth and enabled him to slip in extra revolutions and musical phrasing without offending the stream of the music or the choreographer's intent.  His artistry complimented Abrera's rich musicality and her large, sweeping phrases of dance.

They both had very good, very "on" performances yesterday.  Multiple pirouettes into arabesque?  No problem for Côté.  Traveling fouettes waving a dish rag over the head?  No problem for Abrera.  Grigorovich-inspired lifts where Cinderella jumped at Prince Charming who pressed her into the air in an attitude position while he held her aloft by her supporting leg?  No problem.  There was good classical chemistry between the two which stayed on the correct side of that fine line of Canadian politeness.  It was all rather refreshing, thank you.

The evening performance marked the triumphant debut of Sascha Radetsky as Prince Charming to Xiomara Reyes' impish, high-spirited Cinderella.  Radetsky was so successful that you have to think that he is going to rocket his way to more classical prince roles immediately.  He showed none of the signs of stress that worry those of us who have been following his performances over the years.  Instead, he displayed great form and confidence.  His technique held up fabulously under the pressure.  Most importantly, when a turn or a balance was a little off, he just saved what he could of it and moved on without fighting with it.  His jumps were quiet and he didn't slam the landings (and the achilles) into the floor the way he has been prone to do.  He looked dashing, and clearly was that great potential being realized before our very eyes.

Reyes had a fantastic performance this evening and Radetsky owes much of his success to her generous theatricality, unflappable calm, and her confidence in him.  Her Cinderella had energy to burn and it was apparent why this Cindy annoyed her stepsisters.  Rolling eyes and sighs of exasperation were signs of Cinderella's frustration with her living situation.  Where Abrera's character always had the underlying glamour of a princess just waiting for the right dress, Reyes' character required a total transformation from rascal.  She accomplished it with her first few catwalk steps out of the pumpkin carriage while wrapped in a full length fur trimmed coat.  When dancing at the ball or in the garden in Act III, Reyes always conveyed the joy of her good fortune while wondering if it was a dream or real.

Kudelka's choreography is not of the type for which a company can skimp on rehearsal.  It seemed in the performances yesterday and in the dress rehearsal on Tuesday that the corps was not as ready as it should have been.  At times in the afternoon performance, it looked like some of the men truly didn't know what step came next and were playing catch-up with the rest.  There was troubling timing of double saut de basque which is a difficult step and not common corps work – maybe it's not suitable for ensemble work.  When men learn the step and practice it, they always utilize their individual timings and generally teachers don't harp on what count the dancer is in the air and on what count he lands.  Well, these things count in ensemble work, and they weren't especially pretty in the performances thus far.  Haglund is bringing out of town guests to Friday night's performance (spending over $400) and hopes to be able to report that things have smoothed out.  Not kidding.

Wednesday included outstanding soloist performances from Sarah Lane (mat.) and Misty Copeland (eve.) (Blossom), Marian Butler and Renata Pavam (Petal), Simone Messmer and Isabella Boylston (Moss) and Hee Seo and Zhong-Jing Fang (Twig).  Their variations are all so individual – the bourree-ing choreography and bending torso of Petal's dance especially beautiful and responsive to the music.

The Stepsister danced by Kristi Boone (mat.) and Nicola Curry (eve.), and the Other Stepsister danced by Luciana Paris  and Gemma Bond were uniformly brilliant in both performances.  But what happened to the Other Stepsister's big front teeth that were so funny a few years ago?  And what happened to her dive under the front curtain at bows?

Haglund must complain that the lighting of the ball scene is way too dark and the spotlights on the principals and especially on players like the escorts and the stepsisters are not bright enough.  The women's dresses are stunning, but you can barely see them. 

Unless you're a nose-up-in-the-air Brit (or under one's editing control) for whom it's the Ashton way or the highway, you will enjoy this production of Cinderella.  The magic is there.  The charm is there.  The invention is there.  The beauty is there.

With so many fine performances yesterday, this is a tough call, but this jeweled Rene Caovilla Pump Bump Award must be bestowed upon Sascha Radetsky for the sensationally danced debut that we've all been waiting for:

Comments

[Rachelmarch.blogspot.com]

So happy to hear that - a number of people who went to the Murphy/Hallberg tuesday night show absolutely HATED Kudelka's production and even left before the end. I'd always liked it (though I've only seen Stella and Julie as Cinderella). Also thrilled to hear about Sascha - he's another dancer I suspected is too often cast as villains and given the space to be princely would rise to the occasion.

Looking forward to seeing what Marcelo does with the role - it's a little bit bland as princes go so I think he will be just the man to make it meaningful!

[Haglund]

I think whether you like it depends on the degree to which other productions of Cinderella have informed your expectations, how close you sit in the theater, and how well the corps is prepared. I like the Ashton production, too. I also like Leslie Ann Warren and Stuart Damon in the R&H musical version.

[Angelica Smith]

Thank you, thank you, Haglund! I have been on pins and needles waiting for your posting ever since seeing the dress rehearsal on Tuesday. I LOVED the production--the word I kept using was "inventive," and I also loved the fact that there was so much classical dancing in what I had expected to be a slapstick comedy. I loved Stella (I always do), Sascha, Xiomara, Julie, and Marcelo. The corps was very ragged, it's true, but I was amazed at how much dancing was given to the secondary and corps dancers. When I read the review in the You-Know-Where, I was taken aback and really questioned my judgment. But now, reading your words, I know the ballet and the performances were as I saw them. Ah--nothing like validation! I will be there on Friday night, too, and will look forward to that fourth cast. Alas, I missed M. Cote, but I will keep my antennae out for him now. And missing Prokofiev's gorgeous R&J music this season, it was a pleasure to hear the Cinderella score. Oh--and yes, you're absolutely right, it helps the experience enormously to sit close enough to read the pantomime and the facial expressions.

[Haglund]

I also meant to note that the Prokofiev solos and demi-solos didn't always rise from the pit with the force needed. At times, the music sounded a little uninspired.

[Batsuchan]

Hi Haglund! I knew before I saw the dress rehearsal that the critics would savage "Cinderella," but that you and I would see eye-to-eye. I loved this production when I first saw it in 2007; in fact, this was the ballet that transformed me from a casual fan into a budding balletomane. ;)

I'm glad to hear Stella and Guillaume put on a great show! Stella looked lovely as usual in the rehearsal, and what little I saw of Guillaume made me very much regret that I would miss their performance. (Handsome dancer and handsome lines, indeed!)

I'm also glad to hear you enjoyed Reyes and Radetsky. I always enjoy watching Reyes, and you only had to take one look at Sascha's impressively toned arms to know that those big lifts wouldn't be a problem. :)

I saw the Murphy/Hallberg performance on Tuesday night, and I thought it was lovely. Gillian looked like she stepped right out of an old movie in the ball scene, and Hallberg has always been a natural-born prince. The corps also looked more polished than in the rehearsal.

I hope you and your guests enjoy tomorrow night's performance, Haglund! I'll be there on Saturday night with friends, and I suspect they'll have a grand time.

[Haglund]

Hi Batsuchan! It's a shame that the NYT doesn't treat its culture criticism with the same care as its news writing. When one of its critics (who actually had some dance training) writes positively about a production and the same production gets trashed by a subsequent critic and his underlings who have no practical training, you'd think that the culture editor would look more closely at the content with an eye toward verifying it. And when it happens as frequently as it does, you'd think the culture editor would question the reliability of the critics' work. If the dance criticism is so uninformed, filled with agenda, and frequently unprofessional, can't one presume that all of the other culture writing in the paper is too?

[Koji Attwood]

I'm afraid the same malaise is often true regarding the music criticism in the Times.

[Angelica Smith]

IMHO, one aspect of a ballet critic's job is to build an audience for ballet, educating the public in what to look for, how to look at ballet, what is good about each production and each dancer. Yes, there can be negatives, but when everything the critic says is negative, that belies the legitimacy of the review. Ballet is a beautiful art, which should not be relegated to a rarefied audience. But I imagine that the layperson reading the current reviews would think along the lines of "Well, I'm certainly not going to spend my money for that!" Very sad for those of us who adore ballet and who would like to spread the word.

[Haglund]

The NYT dance writers seem to have that toxic blend of not possessing enough knowledge to do the job correctly coupled with a psychopathic need to wield power and influence - kind of like a band of Donald Trumps.

It's troubling to hear from Koji that the music criticism suffers as well.