Gorgeous Cinderella is lifted to a new level
BALLET should always, of course, be beautiful. But this production is simply gorgeous. Much of the credit for this must go to Tracy Grant Lord, who has transferred her wonderful design creations for the New Zealand Royal Ballet to Scotland for their European debut.
Scottish Ballet artistic director Christopher Hampson, of course, reprises the production from his previous life in the Land of the Long White Cloud in 2007.
Miss Lord’s sets and costumes are stupendous. When a production looks as good as this, it must give the dancers an extra burst of confidence in their ability to perform – and how well they do.
The highlight of the evening was, as it should be, Cinderella herself. In the title role, Bethany Kingsley-Garner shone like a diamond in the course of her transformation from a poor, put-upon skivvy to a fairy tale princess of dreams. She was utterly compelling and completely convincing.
Her technique is strong as steel, belying her ethereal appearance.
If Miss Kingsley-Garner continues to produce performances of this calibre, the moment can not be long delayed when she is promoted from soloist to principal.
As her prince, Christopher Harrison was undeniably able, if not so inspired. Without ever really doing anything wrong, he somehow never managed to hit his Cinderella’s heights. Strangely, perhaps, this is something I have noticed in ballet performances of late – not just with Scottish Ballet, but from a variety of companies.
Perhaps it is only coincidence – and my evidence may be little more than anecdotal – but I cannot help but wonder why female leads appear to be outshining their male counterparts at the moment.
In full-length ballet, it is not only the stars who matter; a whole plethora of more minor, but hardly unimportant, roles can infuse a production with vim and vigour. They are a most valuable counterpoint to the stars of the show.
So the quality of dancer in such roles is vital – and there is a choice to be made here. An artistic director can blood up-and-coming future stars; or choose senior soloists, principals even, to add an extra status and elan that a young, though promising, dancer may not possess.
Here, Hampson has chosen the latter option for Cinderella’s stepsisters, casting the company’s two female principals, Eve Mutso and Sophie Martin.
In this production, the sisters are more evil than ugly – and Miss Mutso and Miss Martin imbue them with a delicious nastiness. They also bring a sense of confidence, style and, frankly, class which takes such roles to a whole other level.
ITHOROUGHLY approve of this practice. When I saw Scottish Ballet for the first time, more years ago than I care to remember, Elaine Macdonald and Vincent Hantam produced stunning cameos in Nutcracker’s national dances. They made me a firm fan of the company. I wonder if Miss Mutso and Miss Martin might do something similar for a whole new generation of dance-goers.
Another small delight was the team of dressmakers busily working on Cinderella’s transformation. They managed to weave a seemingly complex web with their tape measures, before somehow, with the merest flick of ends, the whole was almost magically disentangled. A visual delight.
Hampson’s choreography brings new depths and nuances to an old, familiar tale – but he is deeply indebted to Prokofiev’s wonderful score. By turns jagged and jazzy, it seamlessly moves from an astringency almost austere to deep and lush romanticism.
In the end, though, the overriding impression left by this production is one of sheer, visually ravishing delight. Don’t miss it.
Cinderella, Scottish Ballet, Theatre Royal, Glasgow, until tomorrow; His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen, January 20-23; Eden Court, Inverness, January 27-30.