Cinderella – The Royal Ballet

Prokofiev
Cinderella
The Royal Ballet

Orchestra of The Royal Opera House
Jonathan Lo – Conductor 

Dancers
Cinderella – Marianela Nuñez
The Prince – Reece Clarke
Cinderella’s Step-Sisters – Luca Acri, Gary Avis
Cinderella’s Father – Bennet Gartside
The Fairy Godmother – Mayara Magri

Act I Scene I
The Fairy Godmother in disguise – Olga Sabadoch
The Dancing Master – Téo Dubreuil
Two Fiddlers – Grace Lee, Ksenia Berezina
A Tailor – Harris Bell
Dressmakers – Hanna Park, Maddison Pritchard
The Shoemaker – Brayden Gallucci
The Hairdresser – Aiden O’Brien
A Jeweller – Harrison Lee

Act I Scene 2
The Fairy Spring – Isabella Gasparini
The Fairy Summer – Mariko M. Sasaki
The Fairy Autumn – Meaghan Grace Hinkis
The Fairy Winter – Claire Calvert

Act II
The Jester – Taisuke Nakao
The Prince’s Friends – Leo Dixon, Benjamin Ella, Francisco Serrano, Giacomo Rovero
Suitors – Lukas B. Brændsrød, Joshua Junker
Act III

The Company

Frederick Ashton – Choreography
Set Designer – Tom Pye – Set Designer
Alexandra Byrne – Costume Designer
David Finn – Lighting Designer
Finn Ross – Video Designer
Chris Fisher – Illusions

Restored to its rightful position as a Covent Garden Christmas ballet, Ashton’s Cinderella returns to the Royal Opera House in the first revival of a production premiered in March of last year. It is most certainly welcome after the vacuities of the 2024/25 season so far over which it is probably politic to draw a heavy veil. But the upshot is that the dancers of The Royal Ballet are now called upon to perform a difficult and challenging work by its Founder Choreographer in his own very specific dance idiom, what used to be termed ‘the English style’. From opening night, it was clear that they are still finding their way back into that style after months of absence; it is not something that simply reappears overnight. The corps de ballet in the form of the ‘Stars’ and the ballet guests in Act II were, thankfully, exceptionally well-drilled, with torsos bending and twisting, although not quite as much as the choreographer in his day would have wanted or, indeed, insisted upon. It was a pity that several female dancers forgot at times that they were dancing a classic work from 1948 and not one of the contemporary yawn-fests with which they have regaled audiences in recent months – legs were taken to high and the line of the arabesque extended to break the natural line of the body from toe to finger-tip. Small details like this are crucial to maintain the integrity and beauty of Cinderella’s choreography.

It was among the dancing soloists that a worry began to nag – a pervading lack of musicality. Blessed with a superb score from Prokofiev (more of the orchestral performance anon), the dancers have no excuse for not listening and ensuring that Ashton’s carefully placed movements live within and not simply alongside the music, let alone lag behind. But this is what happened again and again on opening night, as if musicality in a dancer were an optional extra rather than the key. There is a reason for this: many dancers are so obsessed by technique and the scale of their movements that they are often reluctant to downsize a step, which is where a lag emerges, because the smaller scale is exactly the idiom in which the choreographer conceived the dancing. It simply takes longer for a leg to be raised near to the vertical than to, say ninety degrees, as it does in bringing it down again.  Speed and fleetness of foot are essential qualities in an Ashton dancer, yet this performance showed dancer after dancer struggling to keep up with the music, let alone to inhabit it.

The musical contribution was, in fact, a key gripe. Jonathan Lo led a baggy performance by the house orchestra, tempi somewhat wayward and there were very little instances of true pace. The music should drive forward the action, but all too often, as in much of the Stepsisters’ business, and even in some for the Act I Fairy solos, there was a drag from the pit. Prokofiev’s tangy sonorities were well delivered by the orchestra – would that they had had someone to whip it all up a bit. 

The production was given a mixed reception in 2023 and it is notable that it seems no tweaks or changes have been put into place. That is a pity, given the unflattering, some would say ugly, costuming for the Act I season fairies, Fairy Summer clearly drawing a very short straw indeed in electric raspberry and acid lemon. There are coups de théâtre a plenty which do bring more than a touch of magic to the proceedings.

Reigning company ballerina Marianela Nuñez was an engaging Cinderella and made much of both her Act I sadness and overwhelming joy at the ball in Act II; there were moments when one could see that Cinders had to pinch herself to believe that such happiness was possible. Her dancing is as satisfying as ever, with every challenge set by Ashton precisely met, but, as can often creep into her performances, there was little sense of spontaneity, as if every moment had been prepared and carefully considered. Reece Clarke cut an impressive figure as the Prince and was a courteous partner – he and Nuñez make for a handsome stage couple and complement each other in terms of physique. The Prince has precious little character to convey, so all rests in his dancing which, given how well he had negotiated the complexities of Les Rendezvous in the early summer, was a trifle disappointing. There was degree of imprecision in his placings and his landings in his Act II solo were not as neat as one could have wished for. This is perhaps because he has not, as far as your reviewer can ascertain, performed on the Covent Garden stage since June…

The Stepsisters have, many would say thankfully, finally shaken off memories of Ashton and Robert Helpmann in the roles – their shadow was indeed long and lasted for over 50 years. Gary Avis and Luca Acri certainly make for an entertaining double act and carefully engineer the audience’s affection. Two men dressed as women now make a far different impression and carry greater socio-cultural baggage than they did in 1948 and, indeed, well into the 21^st century; the music hall and pantomime traditions that these two characters tapped into have now been replaced by Drag Race and the like, so that even Gary Avis’ ‘bossy’ sister is now far less Danny la Rue and more RuPaul. It is not to everyone’s taste, but it must be acknowledged that times change as do audiences. In this run of performances, as in the last, the company is repeating an experiment in the 1960s to cast two women in the roles; these female stepsisters perform with some selected casts. Another role which has changed a great deal is that of the Jester, whose underlying melancholy despite his virtuoso steps was always a challenge to achieve; when the two fused, it made the role highly satisfying to watch. That duality has now been reduced to mere virtuosity allied to a slightly nausea-inducing camp jollity which makes one itch for a shotgun.  It all does no favours to Taisuke Nakao who is a most promising soloist but who simply cannot fight against his apricot and redcurrant outfit with accompanying modesty ruffle.  Mayara Magri impressed a gracious Fairy Godmother and brought a flowing, liquid quality to her Act I solo while Isabella Gasparini as a bouncy Fairy Spring was the most clement of the four seasons. The pas de quatre in Act II for the Prince’s four friends is a real test of the quality of male dancing in the company, any error in synchronicity and musicality exposed; it’s back to the rehearsal studio for this quartet. 

Whilst there is much to celebrate with the return of a company classic to the stage, especially given the dire programming on show this season, but there are also concerns that, despite what has clearly been a huge effort to ensure that the right style and approach is achieved, the result is decidedly mixed.