REVIEW | Cinders! Scottish Ballet
Jessica Fyfe as Princess Louise and Bruno Micchiardi as Cinders in Scottish Ballet's Cinders. Credit Andy RossWritten by Kathryn
Disclaimer: gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review.
Since I was a little girl I’ve always loved going to the ballet at Christmas. There is just something so magical about losing yourself in the music and movement and a Scottish Ballet production never fails to bring me right back to when I was that little girl who dreamed one day of being a ballerina.
Sadly, I’m not a ballerina, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still feel the same magic of ballet today. Cinders!, Scottish Ballet’s latest festive offering, is an adaptation of the classic Cinderella fairytale, where an orphaned Cinderella meets her fairy godmother who transforms Cinderella’s simple dress and whisks her away to a ball. We all know the story. Cinderella meets her Prince and they fall in love, but at the stroke of midnight the enchantment fades and as Cinderella flees she leaves behind one, solitary glass slipper. The prince searches high and low to find the girl whose foot will fit the slipper, eventually finding Cinderella at the home of her stepmother and stepsisters, and they both live happily ever after.
Scottish Ballet has added a slight twist to their adaptation, with the gender of the characters being switched from performance to performance, and changing whether Cinders will meet their prince or princess. The audience won’t know which version they are seeing until the prologue begins.
For this performance, Cinders is male, portrayed by Bruno Micchiardi, and Princess Louise is danced by Jessica Fyfe. The dancing is absolutely world class from all involved and I loved seeing a male dancer show more vulnerability as Cinders, and a female dancer have the opportunity to be confident and regal. I’d love to see the performance both ways and compare the differences in the choreography, but I could also see how it could remain similar with just a male or female accent, depending on who is performing which role.
The first location we see is the Rose family business, soon to be consumed by the fire that leaves our Cinders an orphan. The business is taken over by the Thorne family where poor Cinders is bullied by Mrs Thorne (Grace Paulley) and her three children Morag (Grace Horler), Flossie (Claire Souet) and Tarquin (Aaron Venegas). I really loved the characterisation of the siblings - their choreography was fantastic and they brought the comedy element to the production. A special mention must be made to Claire Souet who made dancing bad intentionally look easy!
Elin Steele’s costume design for this production was absolutely stunning and the sets were simple but elegant at the same time. I loved the special effects and projections used throughout the production - especially the fire projection in the opening prologue.
It’s maybe not your “traditional” festive production but it left me feeling magical and Christmassy all in one. A true treat for all the family this winter.
Cinders! plays at Glasgow’s Theatre Royal until 31 December before embarking on tour visiting Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness and Newcastle. Find out further information on the Scottish Ballet website.
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
