A SPIN WITH CINDERELLA
Goh Ballet takes on classic
Cinderella When: Saturday and Sunday Where: The Centre Tickets: $28-$82 at ticketleader.ca
For its 40th anniversary, Goh Ballet Academy is presenting a new version of Cinderella.
Guest choreographer Maina Gielgud, the former artistic director of the Australian Ballet and of the Royal Danish Ballet, has been working with students at the academy as well as two guest dancers on what will be a world premiere.
We talked to Gielgud about the history of Cinderella, her students, and bringing video projections to the ballet.
Q How did this production come about?
A Just over a year ago, on my last visit to Vancouver, Chan Hon Goh (director of Goh Ballet and executive producer of Cinderella), was talking about the academy’s 40th anniversary. I asked what she was going do to for a celebration and she said, “I was thinking about Cinderella.” And I’ve wanted to choreograph Cinderella for some time.
Q What kind of baggage does Cinderella come with?
A It’s quite strange. It’s not a classic as such. The best-known ( ballet) version in the West is the one by (British dancer/choreographer) Frederick Ashton, which the Royal Ballet, and a number of other companies, do. The Russians have a traditional version and a new version. There are quite a lot of Cinderellas around, most using the (Sergei) Prokofiev score, as I do, which is so, so beautiful. There isn’t a standard version. Unlike most of the other ballets that I’ve staged, this meant devising my own version of the story, slightly rearranging the score, and choreographing from whoa to go, and staging it. I’ve tried to integrate a certain amount of mime as well, and follow, almost slavishly I would say, the score. The more I listen to it, the more I realize that Prokofiev tells the story through the score. If I’m able to follow as far as possible, I will manage to tell the story.
Q How old are the students?
A They vary from seven to 19. And then we have guest artists ( Venus Villa and Rolando Sarabia) from Washington Ballet, who are dancing the roles Cinderella and the Prince. For the students, it’s been wonderful to be in rehearsal with them and to be choreographed with them in some of the scenes.
Q Is it normal in a ballet school production to bring in guest dancers?
A Yes. Nowadays it’s almost always done, just as it’s done for the Christmas Nutcrackers. All over the world, guest artists are brought in. Students can see first-hand not only how the guest artists perform, but also how they rehearse, how they respond. … In most cases, as with Venus and Rolando, they’re extremely generous with their time.
Q Why Venus and Rolando?
A I’ve worked with Venus for a number of years, when she was with the English National Ballet and I was there as the principal coach. I know her well and I know her dancing and we work extremely well. Creating something from scratch, it’s important that there’s a good vibe in the studio. And Rolando did my production La Sylphide (2013) in Rome. He’s a fabulous dancer. A very classical Cuban dancer. And Venus is the perfect Cinderella. We’re very spoiled with the two of them.
Q You’re working with a video set designer (Jamie Nesbitt) for the first time. How is that going?
A This is completely new for me. I have admired, in theatre productions, video and photography projections and thought they could be wonderfully utilized in the ballet. Jamie and I discussed several times the possibilities for each scene. But I’ll only actually see what it looks like the day before the premiere. Which is a little scary!