The prologue was set in an expressionist graveyard,the bare branches of Bruce Brockman’s giant trees grasping at the night sky.Cinderella’s mother’s spirit, in a gown seemingly made of light, joined thetrees and let red leaves flutter from her hands onto her grieving daughter atthe graveside. The trees then formed the walls of a walk-in fireplace in thehouse where Cinderella’s bereaved father left the girl at the mercy of a fiercestepmother and her spoiled daughters. Later, Mother’s spirit appears in thefireplace beckoning Cinderella through wisps of smoke to an enchanted placeguarded by trees, now draped in giant fabric that was otherworldly under DavidGrill’s hallucinatory lighting. The sets and lighting, with a ghostlysecond-act ballroom, intensified the beauty of Peter Cazalet’s traditional18th-century costumes.
Were the ballet less perfectly conceived, MarcPetrocci and Darren Christian McIntyre would have stolen the show on openingnight with their abandoned commitment to the Stepsister roles. They wereendearingly funny in the way that pouty, floppy, self-centered teenagers ofeither gender can be, and Pink’s choreography for them, while demanding superbtechnique and courage, is full of jokes on ballet comportment.
Raven Wales’ Stepmother swooped andherded like a bird of prey. The giddy moment in which she wielded a meatcleaver, ready to chop one daughter’s foot to fit the “glass” pointe shoe, was shocking and justright, a hilarious window into her desperate soul. Denis Malinkine conveyed theFather’s helplessness with great presence. Michael Linsmeier’s guardian angelwas a playful, graceful soul mate. Karisa Stich’s Mother was a perfectarchetype.
The superb dancer and actress Tatiana Jouravel wasCinderella on opening night. Ryan Martin was the tender Prince, whose royaltyis beside the point in Pink’s conception. The choreography is inseparable fromthe characterizations, and these dancers filled the steps with meaning. Pinkavoided every potential pitfall by focusing thoughtfully and compassionately onCinderella’s experience. The subject is family and identity, not romance. Theirduets were danced as experiments in togetherness by young people facing life aspartners.
