Photo via Milwaukee Ballet - milwaukeeballet.org
Milwaukee Ballet's ‘Cinderella’
Milwaukee Ballet's ‘Cinderella’
Milwaukee Ballet leading artists Alana Griffith and Parker Brasser-Vos will play Cinderella and her Prince in the revival of Michael Pink’s Cinderella running April 4-7 at the Marcus Center. They’re entrusted with the roles for the Friday and Saturday night performances. In other performances, Griffith will dance the Spirit of the Glass Slippers, and Brasser-Vos will play the comic Dance Master struggling to train Cinderella’s stepsisters to win the part of the Prince’s wife at the upcoming royal ball. Those stepsisters—Garrett Glassman and Eric Figuerdo in alternation with Marko Micov and Josiah Cook—are likely Pink’s most hilarious creations.
My first taste of Michael Pink’s story ballets was the 2009 production of Cinderella. I loved it, especially his signature style which demands both excellent classical ballet technique and up-to-date acting skill.
That style, Griffith explains, means that “you never do the same thing twice. It’s always evolving. It will be a different show every night. Every cast will do it differently because everyone has their own take on it. We’re such a small company and you really need certain qualities to do what we do. One of the things we’re good at is telling stories. No matter which cast you’re seeing, you’re going to have a great show.”
Parker adds an example. “You’re encouraged to stay in the moment and read other people’s body language. And if they’re doing something differently, you need to respond accordingly. You can’t just go on automatic pilot.”
Brasser-Vos, a New York City native schooled in dance at American Ballet Theatre, was invited to Milwaukee Ballet’s Second Company, MBII, in 2010 and to the main company in 2012. When Pink revived Cinderella in 2015, he was among the ensemble of nameless Courtiers in several scenes and had a solo as the Herald bringing news of the ball to Cinderella’s household. Now he’s the Prince.
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
Griffith trained in L.A. and London before joining MBII 10 years ago. The Cinderella revival occurred during her first season in the main company. She played a Courtier, a Fairy and, with Brasser-Vos as her rehearsal partner, was awarded one performance as the Spirit of the Glass Slippers. “That was huge in my first season as a company member,” she says. “So this is a full circle moment for me, to be doing that role again and now also Cinderella. It feels really special how much I’ve grown in ten years with this company.”
Cherish the Partnership
Both dancers cherish their dance partnership. They’ll perform two spectacular pas de deux in Cinderella. “I won’t lie and say that they aren’t challenging,” Brasser-Vos says, “but I will be corny and say that I am happy to be going through this with Alana. We’ve done several of Michael’s ballets together. It’s the god’s honest truth that I wouldn’t want to go through this with anybody else at this point. We have a way of working where even on our worst days it’s like ‘okay we’re going to do this.’ I feel like I’m entrusted with a lot of trust, and I trust her a lot. That makes it easier to feel natural. You feel like you’re going through something real onstage. Of course, with the technical elements you’re always working towards excellence. We don’t believe in perfection, just excellence.”
Griffith agrees and continues, “Michael takes the fairy tale much further. You really follow Cinderella’s character. He gives more meaning to moments that a Disney movie would brush past. Something I really like is that Cinderella is very strong. She really overcomes her circumstances. And at the end, when her stepsisters and stepmother go, ‘we’re so sorry,’ she’s like ‘I forgive you.’”
“Disney’s animated animals are there,” Brasser-Vos offers, “because Cinderella needs an advocate, or the story—where there’s household abuse—can get pretty dark. Michael’s production really shows the dichotomy between those very unsettling portions and the happy ever after part, and where that ending comes from in a real sense. One of the things I found when we work on the pas de deux together is that Cinderella is coming from nothing, she has nothing. The Prince has everything and yet he has that feeling of being lonely in a crowd. You see that with people in power all the time. They have everything but they have nothing, because the one thing they really need is only found through hardship or humble circumstances.”
“So he’s looking for that thing that’s missing,” Brasser-Vos continues. “That’s why he’s a bit obsessive about the glass slipper and this woman that he just met. As much as his kingdom is an escape for her from her humble circumstances, her character is an escape for him out of a life of vanity. They meet and recognize that loneliness, and that transforms into a love that grows.”
Performances are April 4 and 5 at 7:30 p.m., April 6 at 2 and 7:30 p.m., and April 7 at 12:30 and 6 p.m. at the Marcus PAC, 929 N. Water St. Recommended for adults and children age 4 and over. For information or tickets, visit milwaukeeballet.org, call Milwaukee Ballet at 414-902-2103, or call the Marcus Center at 414-273-7206.
