Having seen the English National Ballet's dynamic Triple Bill on Wednesday night, I was only too happy to return to the Bristol Hippodrome on Thursday to watch their production of Prokofiev's 'Cinderella.' The fairytale, now added to the elite selection of 'classics' which virtually every ballet company performs, is running at the Hippodrome until Saturday.

The opening scene revealed Cinderella, (Erina Takahashi) alone, doing the housework.

Takahashi put across the vulnerability of the poor Cinderella, and her first solo showed her neat and clean pointework. I did feel throughout the rest of the ballet, though, Takahashi lacked spontaneity.

Cinderella's two stepsisters (Monica Perego and Maria Ribo Pares) really were superb. They portrayed their mean-spirited characters comically, without losing the ability to present themselves as very skilled dancers with a firm technique. The challenging choreography for the sisters deserves a mention too, much of it in opposition, which was very pleasing. The performances of the Dancing Master (Jesus Pastor), Cinderella's Stepmother (Jane Haworth) and The Season Fairies all added to and enhanced the fairytale magic.

What interested me was the symbol of the moon, which reappeared a number of times throughout the ballet. The most significant moments in 'Cinderella' take place at night, and Cinderella's Fairy Godmother (Jessica Thomson) becomes a personification of the moon. The moon is Cinderella's guardian relinquishing her responsibility at dawn when Cinderella is (as in all best fairy tales) finally united with her Prince, heralding the dawn of a bright new day.

The set changes were flawless throughout, and there were some lovely lighting images. The Corps de Ballet were quite prominent and generally, performed beautifully, especially in waltz sequence at the beginning of Act II. One thing which didn't really fit were the National dances as the Prince looked for his pride, as it was out of keeping with fairytale. Overall, the orchestra did a superb job in giving life to Prokoviev's rather somber score.

Apart from a couple of slips from individuals, the piece was polished and well presented, offering some lovely images. David Brown (author of Cinderella web-page) said 'Every person can find a bit of Cinderella within themselves.' So if you want an evening to escape into the magical world of fairytale this is a good opportunity, but it may challenge your preconceived ideas about 'Cinderella'

Buy tickets for events:

The Tick List:

Choreography

 Music

 Story

 Sets

 Costumes

 Cast

 Overall
 

Sponsors