Jack White - Composer of Ballet Cymru's "Cinderella" and "Stick in the Mud"

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A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure and privilege of interviewing the Welsh composer Jack White for the Menai Science Park (Bangor University's science park at Gaerwen on Ynys Môn or the Isle of Anglesey). The occasion was World Intellectual Property Day, with the theme IP and Music: Feel the Beat of IP.  My interview with Jack formed part of a webinar which I chaired and reported in Best World IP Day Ever on 8 May 2025 in NIPC Cymru.  The science park very kindly made a YouTube video of my interview entitled Jack White and Jane Lambert.

Jack told me that he was a Newport man.  He was born and went to school in that city.  He read music at Somerville College, Oxford and carried out his doctoral research at Cardiff University.  He first came to my attention when I saw Marc Brew's Stuck in the Mud in Llandudno (see An Explosion of Joy 21 June 2014).  Jack wrote the score for that work, and I have been one of his fans ever since.  My second opportunity to hear Jack's work was in Cinderella, which I reviewed in Ballet Cymru's Cinderella on 15 June 2015.  I loved his score.  Although I admire Prokofiev's score very much, I can understand why Darius James and Amy Doughty commissioned a new score from Jack for their production.  As I said in my review:

"it fitted the ballet like a glove. An arranger or even a musicologist would have had to have taken a meat cleaver to Prokofiev and the result might have been no more satisfactory than the operation on the feet of Cas and Seren."

I wrote a feature on Jack on 6 May 2017. 

Since that feature, Jack has won the Manchester Chorale's contest to find a new work to celebrate its 40th anniversary.  His winning entry, When Voices Rise, was recorded in St Ann's Church, Manchester and appears on the choir's YouTube channel.  This is my favourite work from Jack.   As I said in the interview,  I particularly enjoy the crescendos and cadences in the piece.

Jack is doing a lot of work for choirs now by adapting well-known songs like Love a Lady Tonight for choral use which he mentions in more detail in my interview. 

 

Cinders in Sunderland

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Birmingham Royal Ballet Cinderella Sunderland Empire 15 Mar 2025 14:00 

Between 6 Feb and 12 Apr 2025, the Birmingham Royal Ballet took Sir David Bintley's Cinderella on a nationwide tour.  I caught it at the Sunderland Empire on 15 March 2025.  I had already reviewed it in Bintley's Best on 2 Mar 2017.  I wrote in that article that I liked everything that I had seen of Bintley's work, but I thought Cinderella was the best.  That is still my view now. 

The reason I admire the ballet so much is that it tells the Grimm brothers' story (with a few variations) through Bintley's spectacular choreography to Prokofiev's beautiful music with John Macfarlane's sumptuous designs and David Finn's ingenious lighting. The Cinderella Relaxed Performance YouTube video is a good introduction to and overview of the ballet.   In Cinderella: An Interview with Sir David Bintley. Sir David confirms Mark Monahan's programme notes that Sir David agreed to create the ballet if Macfarlane agreed to do the designs. Monahan reports: "Lo and behold, John said yes."  Readers will recall that Macfarlane designed Liam Scarlett's Swan Lake, a recording of which I mentioned in Swan Lake at the Leeds Showcase on 30 May 2025.  The importance of those designs is explained in Cinderella: John Macfarlane's Designs.

In his programme notes, Mark Monahan observed that many choreographers had created versions of Cinderella, but it was Sir Frederick Ashton's for the Royal Ballet that "cast the longest shadow". It was important to Bintley that his company's Cinderella should be distinctive.  One important difference is that Bintley's stepsisters are danced by two young women, whereas Sir Frederick and Sir Robert Helpmann danced the stepsisters in the tradition of the English pantomime dame. As the stepsisters' video shows, those young women were quite beastly to Cinderella and, sometimes, even to each other. Ashton and Helpmann were absurd but far from menacing.  Bintley retained the fairy godmother, tradesmen and seasonal fairies (or at least the seasons) in his ballet, introducing also a frog coachman and lizard attendants.

Beatrice Parma danced the title role with flair and grace.  One of the most satisfying moments in the show is when she momentarily turned on her tormentors with a broom.  Others were, of course, her arrival at the ball, her duet with the prince, her producing the missing slipper and her final dance with the prince. Enrique Bejarano Vidal was an impressive prince with his sweeping lifts and powerful jumps.  Isabella Howard was a dazzling fairy godmother.  Having seen Oscar Kempsey-Fagg at An Evening with Ashton on 24 Jan 2023 in Elmhurst Ballet School, which I discussed in An "Evening with Ashton" and the Launch of an English Junior Company on 30 Jan 2023, it is good to see his progress in the company.

Sunderland has a beautiful Edwardian theatre capable of accommodating an audience of 2,200.  It was opened by Vesta Tilly in 1907.  It has a massive stage and excellent acoustics.  It is said to be haunted by the ghosts of Sid James and Vesta Tilly.  Neither spectre appeared on my visit.   Sunderland has a population of just over 277,000.  It used to be known for shipbuilding.  Nowadays, it is better known for making Nissan cars.   It has a university, a football club and beaches.

Principato's Cinderella: Having a Ball in Tallinn

Maria Chugai and Elizabetta Formento

Author Jack Devant © 2024 Jack Devant.  All rights reserved. Reproduced with the kind permission of the owner

 

Cristiano Principato and Sander Sellin Cinderella Estonian National Opera House, Tallinn, 14 Oct 2024 19:00

Cristiano Principato is a soloist with the Estonian National Ballet.  He first came to my attention 10 years ago when he was a member of the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company (see Meet Cristiano Principato of the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company 3 Dec 2014).  In his interview, he explained that he had loved choreography ever since he was a child. He said that his long-term dream was to direct a major company where he could create new ballets. My parting comment was: "Here is another young man who knows where he is going and I shall follow his career with interest."

I did not have to wait long for Principato's talent to emerge.  In June 2016 I flew to Italy to see some of Europe's most promising young dancers at the civic theatre of Trecate (a small town in Piedmont about the same distance from Milan as Huddersfield is from Manchester) perform at a benefit gala for an excellent local charity (see From Italy with Love 1 July 2016).  Not only did Principato raise money for the charity, he also danced before his father who had been prevented by illness from travelling to the opera houses in which Principato had performed.  It must have been a very proud moment for both men.

In the same year the Dutch National Ballet invited Principato to create a work for that company and the result was Palladio.   On the strength of that work, I nominated Principato as the outstanding young choreographer of 2016.  The following year Principato was placed in charge of New Moves 2017 which stages works by the Dutch National Ballet's dancers.   In my review, I wrote:

"As well as coordinating the whole event (see Principato moves to a Bigger Stage 30 May 2017), Cristiano Principato created, and danced in, my favourite work of the evening. He based his work on the music of Herny Purcell, our first great composer. This was a work for four dancers and his casting was impeccable."

I lost touch with Principato when he joined the Estonian National Ballet because Tallinn is much further from Manchester than Amsterdam.  

We reconnected when Maria Chugai, one of my favourite artists with the Dutch National Ballet, told me that she was dancing in a new production of Cinderella by Principato and suggested that I might like to fly out to Tallinn to see the show.  Although it was not easy for me to get away I jumped at the idea for several reasons.  First, Kenneth Tindall had told me in his interview on Casanova  that "the jump from one-act to full-length is an exponential and qualitative leap - not merely doubling or tripling of effort."  Not every choreographer can carry it off and I wanted to see what Principato would make of the challenge. Secondly, I have been a big fan of Chugai ever since I saw her dance Myrtha in Giselle at the Theater Heerlen on 9 Nov 2018 (see Mooie 10 Nov 2018).  I also owe her a special debt of gratitude for the online classes that she gave to Powerhouse Ballet during lockdown.  Finally, visiting Estonia was an adventure. It is a fascinating country with Russian, Finnish, Swedish and German influences, thriving tech and creative sectors and a concession called e-residency which confers some of the benefits of Estonian residence on non-resident foreigners.  The country also borders Russia and judging by the way international tensions are developing Tallinn may be the nearest I ever get to Theatre Street in my lifetime.

Although Cinderella was an independent production it took place in the Estonian National Opera House (Rahvusooper Estonia).  That building consists of two auditoriums side by side.  One is used for opera and ballet and the other for concerts.  For those who want to learn more about the opera house, the photographer Jack Devant has written an interesting article about the venue. The dominant feature of the auditorium in which the ballet took place is a gigantic painting on the ceiling encircling a chandelier.  It is not a big theatre compared to Covent Garden or the Music Theatre in Amsterdam but it gives an impression of opulence. The audience is seated on semi-upholstered wooden framed chairs allowing a reasonable amount of legroom.  There appeared to be space for an orchestra though the pit was boarded over for the performance. A heavy royal blue curtain hung across the stage.  The ushers were smartly turned out in black suits with golden trimmings around their neck and hemlines.

In an interview with Konstantin Litvichenko, Principato was asked to identify the three most successful factors of the performance.  He replied first the visual design, secondly, staging Cinderella in the style of Marius Petipa and thirdly the experience that he gained from staging the work.  I would agree with him about the design though I would not put it number one.  An obvious reason for the success of the show was that Principato's libretto stuck close to Charles Perrault's story and avoided gimmicks like gender alternation as in Scottish Ballet's Cinders or substitution of a male magician for the Fairy Godmother in David Nixon's.  But the main reason for the success of the show was the casting.  Principato chose dancers who were also accomplished actors.  They told the tale which was just as well as the programme notes were entirely in Estonian.

The casting of Elisabetta Formento from the Spanish National Dance Company in the title role was inspired. I had previously seen her with the Dutch National Ballet and the Birmingham Royal Ballet and it was a delight to see her again.  Formento is an excellent communicator of emotion.  Her despair and sense of burning injustice as her stepmother destroyed her dress and confiscated her invitation were palpable.  Later she shared her exhilaration with three soaring grands jetés as she approached her prince.

Perhaps because I am used to Sarah Kundi's portrayal of Hortensia (Cinderella's stepmother) in Christopher Wheeldon's version for the English National Ballet I had expected a comic performance from Francesca Loi. I was not disappointed.  There were some hilarious moments such as her panic over a mouse and her mounting frustration over her failure to distract the prince after she had recognized Cinderella. 

Loi was complemented by her two selfish and spiteful daughters Anastasia and Genevieve. These are difficult roles as they have to combine ridicule with nastiness which is the opposite of a dancer's training.  They were danced by Karina Laura Leškin and Phillipa McCann.

Much as the Lilac Fairy holds together The Sleeping Beauty and Drosselmeyer The Nutcracker the Fairy Godmother links the three crucial scenes of Cinderella.   She makes an appearance early in the first act noting Cinderella's misery.  She comes again with fairy helpers to create Cinderella's gown and carriage.  She returns to the stage just before midnight warning Cinderella to make her exit.  That role was performed by Maria Chugai with flair and virtuosity.

Formento was partnered gallantly by her prince Thomas Giugovaz.  Having graduated from La Scala ballet school less than 10 years ago his progress to soloist of the Spanish National Dance Company has been rapid.  He has danced in several American and continental companies and also in Hong Kong but not yet in the UK.  

Another dancer who has progressed rapidly is Diogo de Oliviera, a soloist with the Polish National Ballet.  He danced the role of the prince's advisor displaying humour when dealing with Cinderella's stepmother and sisters, carrying her discarded slipper and looking for a fit and considerable virtuosity at the ball.

Other artists I should mention are Akane Ichii, Kim Jana Hügi, Maarja Praks and Ashley Chiu who danced the seasons. Connor Willians and Hidetora Tabe were cavaliers.  Sacha Barber and Benjamin Pierce were guests at the ball.  All are members of the Estonian National Ballet whom I might not have seen had I not come to Tallinn.  All danced well and all deserve commendation.

I have already agreed that the designs contributed to the success of the show.  Credit for the lighting should go to Richard Boukine.  The visuals which consisted of CAD projections transported the audience through all the scenes of the ballet from Conderella's skullery to the ballroom of the royal palace. They were most impressive particularly the fireworks in the last scene. Aarto Hiiema and Principato share the credit for those projections.   Principato and Svetlana Leht collaborated on the costumes.  An original feature of the Fairy Godmother's headgear was the miniature golden stove pipe hat.  Last but by no means least of those who are to be congratulated is Sander Sellin of Grand Art MTÜ - Estonian Ballet Agency for he produced the show.   

Cinderella will be performed in Vilnius on 28 Oct and Tartu on 4 Nov 2024. The show returns to Tallinn on 25 Nov 2024.  It was a resounding success and for those who live within easy reach of any of those cities, it is strongly recommended.   Readers do not have to take my word for it as Principato has posted substantial portions of Act I  and Act II to YouTube.   

Scottish Ballet's Cinders!

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Scottish Ballet Cinders Theatre Royal Newcastle, 10 Feb 2024, 14:30

Christopher Hampson created a beautiful version of Cinderella for the Royal New Zealand Ballet in 2007 which he successfully transplanted to Scotland.  It was a profound and sensitive study of grief and recovery which I loved (see Scottish Ballet's Cinderella of 20 Dec 2015 and Hampson's Cinderella: Coming Up Roses 5 Feb 2019).  When I heard that Hampson had created a gender-reversal version of the ballet called Cinders bmy heart sank ecause I hate change for change's sake.  That's why I was less than enthusiastic about David Nixon's Swan Lake, Akram Khan's Giselle or even my beloved Scottish Ballet's Coppelia.

But sometimes a reworking of a well-known and well-loved ballet succeeds spectacularly.  David Dawson's Swan Lake is a case in point and Ted Brandsen's Coppelia is another.  I am relieved to say that Hampson has carried it off brilliantly with Cinders!.  I have to temper my enthusiasm with the caveat that I have only seen the version in which Cinders is danced by a woman, but I have sufficient confidence in Hampson's genius to look forward to the other version of his ballet when it is next on tour. 

On the train back to Huddersfield I reflected that Scottish Ballet has always innovated. It began with Mods and Rockers '63 to the Beatles' music in 1963.  As Scotland's classical dance company, Scottish Ballet might have been expected to include La Sylphide which is set in the Highlands into their repertoire.  And so they do in a sense though they locate it in the gents' loo of a Glasgow community centre rather than a castle and call it  (see Scottish Ballet's "Highland Fling" in Gurn and Effie Land 2 May 2018).  The company's founder, Peter Darrell is said to have inspired Sir Matthew Bourne who created Highland Fling.  Cinders! follows that tradition and I have no doubt that Darrell would have approved of Hampson's creation.

The synopsis of Cinders! is very different from that of Cinderella.  Gone are the Fairy Godmother, mice, the pumpkin coach, dressmaker, cobbler and dancing master.  There is no wicked stepmother as such because Cinderes's father dies in a fire but there is a new owner of her father's business called Mrs Thorne who performs a similar role.  She also has two unlikeable daughters called Morag and Flossie and a son called Tarquin.  The relationship between Cinders and Mrs Thorne is not clear but it is one of subordination. The prince has two friends who are dukes, one of whom takes a shine to one of Mrs Thorne's daughters and the other to Tarquin.

The simplification of the story has made way for some spectacular choreography.  Particularly impressive were two duets between Cinders danced by Gina Scott and the Prince danced by Evan Loudon.  One takes place at the ball and the other after they eventually find each other.  In both of those duets, there are spectacular fish dives.  I first noticed Loudon when he danced the Prologue in Emergence with Sophie Martin (see Scottish Ballet - Emergence and Mc14/22 11 June 2017).  Scott, however, was new to me and when I posted a comment about her performance on Facebook I learned that both she and I have studied with the same teacher.  That teacher remarked that Scott had some special magic I knew exactly what she teacher must have meant.  Scott must have shown remarkable promise as a student.   The reason I had not noticed  Scott before is that she joined the company only last year.   I shall certainly follow her career with interest in the future.

Other dancers who impressed me were Grace Horler who danced Mrs Thorne and Thomas Edwards who danced her son, Tarquin.  I had been a fan of Horler since 2017 when I saw her in Hansel and Gretel (see Hansel and Gretel in Newcastle - a bit like falling in love 4 Feb 2017).  I first noticed Edwards for his performance as Dr Coppelius.  I should add that everybody in the show danced  well and all deserve commendation.

This company had commissioned new sets and costumes from the young Welsh designer Elin Steele. She graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama only in 2018 and has already acquired an impressive portfolio.   Her costume for Cinders's entrance to the ball was dazzling.  Cinders was clad entirely in white.  She shed her veil to reveal a skirt in the colours of the prince's uniform.   The sets for the shop, ball and rose garden were ingenious and intricate.  The last scene with its Christmas tree uplifted the dancers and audience. 

I should mention Hayley Egan's video designs.  Her simulated newspaper headlines about the fire, survival of Cinders and Mrs Thorne's purchase of the haberdashery shop launched the story.  Her projections marked each change of scene,   

Credit is also due to Lawrie McLennan for his atmospheric lighting.

Cinders!  should be danced alongside Cinderella much in the way that the English National Ballet retains both Mary Skeaming; 's Giselle as well as Akram Khan's.  Both Cinders! and Cinderella have merit and each helps audiences to understand and appreciate the other.

Sarah Kundi - An Appreciation

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Readers of this blog will know that I have a particularly high regard for Sarah Kundi.  Although I must have seen her several times when she was with Northern Ballet she first came to my notice through the YouTube video of Depouillage in which she danced with Jade Hale-Christofi.  It was that film that led me to Ballet Black (see Ballet Black's Appeal 12 March 2013).  When I saw her dance for the first time in  "Dopamine (you make my levels go silly)" and War Letters at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre on Saturday 18 May 2013 I was bowled over (see Why Ballet Black is Special 20 May 2013).

When Ballet Black came to Leeds 6 months later, Sarah Kundi had left the company.  As I said in Ballet Black is Still Special on 7 Nov 2013, I enjoyed Ballet Black's performance in Leeds at least as much as their show in Tottenham but I did miss Sarah Kundi.   I did not have long to wait because I found out that she had joined MurleyDance which performed in Leeds on 1 Dec 2013 (see MurleyDance Triple Bill 2 Dec 2013).

Sarah Kundi did not stay long with MurleyDance and there were reports that she had been offered work with Victor Ulate in Spain (see ByeBye and All the Best 10 June 2014).  Happily, English National Ballet offered her an appointment while she was dancing in Romeo and Juliet in the Round (see Saved for the Nation 17 July 2914).  She remained with that company for the rest of her career picking up the emerging dancer award and triumphing as Lady Capulet (see Congratulations to Sarah Kundi on 20 June 2018) and Hortensia in Christopher Wheeldon's Cinderella (see Cinders in the Round  13 June 2019).

She announced her retirement on Facebook at the end of English National Ballet's latest season in the Royal Albert Hall and I shall miss her greatly.   She was blessed with an expressive countenance that made her a remarkable actor as well as a fine dancer and a physique that gave her an aetherial appearance on stage. Those are qualities that not all principals possess and it is why there were many times that I enquired whether she was in the cast before looking up the leading artists.

Although it is unlikely that we shall ever see her on stage again, Sarah Kundi is not lost to dance.  I was delighted to see the Royal Ballet School's announcement that she has joined its staff. There she will pass on her skills, knowledge and experience to promising students.   I have had the good fortune to meet her at the stage doors of the Palace Theatre in Manchester and the Albert Hall as well as interview her over Zoom for the Stage Door.   I can report that she is as graceful and charming to her fans as she is magnificent on the stage.

I have to thank her for the many years of pleasure that she has given me and no doubt countless other balletgoers and wish her well in her new career as a teacher.

Essex Excellence - The Chelmsford Ballet's Cinderella

(c) 2023 Chelmsford Ballet Company: all rights reserved Licence Courtesy of the company

 

Chelsea Ballet Company Cinderella Chelmsford Theatre 17 March 2023 19:30

Chelmsford is a community about the size of Huddersfield and the same distance from London as Huddersfield is from Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield.  Although Chelmsford has been a city for many years in the ecclesiastical sense as it has a cathedral it was elevated to city status in the municipal sense in 2012 to celebrate the late Queen's diamond jubilee.  While Huddersfield is renowned for its choral society Chelmsford has an institution that is at least as precious, namely the Chelmsford Ballet Company.

Chelmsford Ballet Company is a company of artists who live and work or study in and around Chelmsford.  Although some of its members have made a career in dance - including one of my dear teachers at Northern Ballet Cara O'Shea - many do not.  I shall not call those artists "amateurs" because that description has connotations of aspiration rather than achievement.  In the quality of its productions and the enjoyment that its audiences experience the Chelmsford Ballet stands comparison with many companies of full-time dancers.

Every March the company stages a full-length ballet or mixed bill in Chelmsford's Civic Theatre.  This year it presented its own version of Cinderella.  The score was by Glazunov and not Prokofiev and the choreography was by the company's artistic director Annette Potter with the important contribution of a pas de trois for Cinderella, her prince and his footman from one of my longstanding, favourite choreographers Christopher Marney.  One of the company's strengths is the quality of its sets, costumes, lighting and special effects.  Annette Potter designed the sets, Ann Starlings the costumes and Alana Holland the lighting.  This year we were treated to indoor pyrotechnics when the Fairy Godmother cast off her cloak to reveal a dazzling tutu, Cinderella set off for the ball and at the finale.  I do not know who takes credit for those fireworks but they were spectacular.

Another strength of the Chelmsford Ballet is that it finds a role for as many of its members as possible.  These include the children who performed as mice and the adults who danced as fairy godmother's assistants, seamstresses, ladies of the court, court dancers, the hours of the clock and guests at the wedding.  All of those performers danced well and all deserve congratulations but if I gave each and every one of them her due in this review it would resemble a telephone directory.

The lead roles were, of course, the prince danced by Nicola Marchionni and Cinderella danced by Isabelle Fellows.  They performed their roles with fluency and flair.  They impressed me particularly in their first duet with movements that required considerable virtuosity and more than a little daring. They communicated ecstasy to the audience.  Appreciating the difficulty I applauded them specifically for that sequence.  I have no idea whether they could have heard clapping from row "O" but they know about it now.

The other important female characters were the fairy godmother danced elegantly by Samatha Ellis and the step sisters Alycia Potter and Georgia Olley.  The sisters were my favourites and I can assure readers that there is nothing "ugly" about either of them in real life.   I was able to congratulate one of them on the way out of the theatre when I deposited a somewhat larger contribution to the company's charity than I would otherwise have made.   It is very difficult to clown in ballet and they showed their virtuosity in the dancing lesson by collapsing into splits.  I was reminded of Paddington Bear at Her Majesty's platinum jubilee when one of the sisters took the teapot and poured its contents down her throat from the spout.

The three other males were Neil Harget who was Cinders's long-suffering dad, Alexander Evans who was the tailor and pageboy and James Fletcher who also performed several roles including Marney's pas de trois with Marchioni and Fellows.  All were impressive but I have to give special praise to Evans.  He is still very young but I am sure he will go far.  He has stage presence in spades.  I was particularly amused by his chutzpah as he extracted the last wad of banknotes from a father on his way to Carey Street. 

Cinderella continues at the Civic for one more day and if you can make it to Chelmsford either for the matinee or the evening show you will be amply rewarded.

A Coppelia for our Times

Author Jean Raoux  Pygmalion in Love with his Statue

A show to which I am particularly looking forward is Jess and Morgs's Coppelia for Scottish Ballet.  It will be premiered at next year's Edinburgh International Festival and then go on tour. It is described as a "deliciously dark comedy of mischief and mistaken identity, reinvented for the digital age." It addresses the question: "What happens when you fall in love with a machine? How can we compete with the perfection of the unreal?"

The idea of a human being falling in love with an artefact is not a new one.  I remember translating the story of Pygmalion from Ovid's Metamorphoses as an unseen when I was at secondary school. The reason why that story is relevant now is that it is possible to create a robot with some human and animnal characteristics.  In Japan, robots that respond to touch, sound and light are already being used in nursing homes (see Don Lee Desperate for workers, aging Japan turns to robots for healthcare 25 July 2019 LA Times). 

In Saint-Léon's ballet, Franz's infatuation for a doll that sits on a balcony all day holding a book upside down is secondary.  The love story is between Franz and Swanhilda although one wonders just how long that marriage will last if Franz is already eyeing other women, breaking into Coppelius's workshop and accepting a drink from the old boy he has just burgled and whom he had previously roughed up on his way to the pub. What will he be like when he is in his forties and Swanhikda's left at home to look after the kids?

Jess and Morgs's production should be different.  It promises to "test the boundaries of dance, theatre and film in this distinctive new adaptation of the classic ballet, blending location and real-time filming with projection and live performance." Jess and Morgs have already produced The Secret Theatre which I reviewed in Scottish Ballet's Secret Theatre on 22 Dec 2020. They have also created Cinderella Games for English National Ballet based on the ballet that Christopher Wheeldon created for the Dutch National Ballet and English National Ballet.  They discuss their work for ENB on Chat with the Creatives: Jessica Wright and Morgann Runacre-Temple | English National Ballet 14 July 2020.

It is interesting that Jess and Morgs describe themselves as film makers and choreographers.  The pandemic has brought a lot of suffering but there have been a few compensations. One of those is the development of dance film as an art form in its own right.  It is to be hoped that that development continues when the emergency is over.

Northern Ballet's Cinderella Second Time Round

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Northern Ballet Cinderella Grand Theatre, Leeds 21 Dec 2019 19:00

I attended Northern Ballet's Cinderella at the Grand on Saturday the day after I saw The Wizard of Oz at the Leeds Playhouse. I could not help reflecting that the two shows had more than a little in common,  Both rely heavily on special effects.  Both had wizards and cuddly dogs.  The only difference between the scene in which Dorothy acquires the slippers of the wicked witch of the east and Cinders her glass ones was in the colour of the footwear.  Anyone looking for h a rollicking good spectacle in Leeds has two from which to choose this Christmas.

For that reason, Northern Ballet's Cinderella may not be for everyone.  Anybody expecting Prokofiev's glorious music or the folk tale of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm will not find them in this version.  A new score was commissioned from Philip Feeney who had previously composed the music for a Christopher Gable's version of Cinderella. As Feeney remarked in the programme notes, the ballet was set in imperial Russia.  I think I detected allusions to Petrushka in the winter market and crystal lake scenes.  Unlike most versions of Cinderella, her torment begins with the death of her father and not that of her mother,  Instead of a fairy godmother or birds Cinderella is rescued by a magician.

As in Wuthering Heights, Nixon has a young heroine and a grown-up one.  A flashback to Cinderella's childhood worked rather well in that it provided an explanation for the stepmother's antipathy towards Cinderella.  Cinders had pestered her father to retrieve a shawl from the other side of a stream where a  shoot was taking place.  As he picked it up he was struck by a stray shot.  It is much easier to understand a widow's anger at such needless loss of life than resentment at the rejection of a bunch of flowers as in Christopher Wheeldon's version of the ballet.

Any version of Cinderella is about grief and jealousy. These   are heavy subjects that need to be leavened now and then.  There is plenty of scope for levity in Cinderella.  Sir Frederick Ashton and Sir Robert Helpmann were a hoot as the ugly sisters in the Royal Ballet's version in the early 1970s (see Sir Frederick Ashton - A Most Lovably Monstrous Ugly Sister),   So, too, was Sarah Kundi (a former Northern Ballet dancer) as the stepmother who gets tighter and tighter at the royal ball in Christopher Wheeldon's (see Cinders in the Round 13 June 2019).  There is also the shoe matching scene.  Wheeldon has knights in armour in the queue to try the shoe.  Darius James and Amy Doughty dress Cinderella's brother as a girl and attempt to saw lumps off his foot in Ballet Cymru's version.  There was nothing like that in Nixon's version.  Apart from the magic with which the wizard transformed Cinderella's kitchen that reminded me of the easy peasy lemon squeezy advert and the illuminated "Cinders" sign on the sleigh I can't remember much to laugh about in Northern Ballet's Cinders.

Having said that, I had come to watch a ballet and not a pantomime,  Dancers who particularly impressed me yesterday include Miki Akuta as young Cinderella, Antoinette Brooks-Daw as the stepmother, Jonathan Hinks, Matthew Topliss who danced the magician or wizard and Cinderellas dad and Sarah Chun in the title role.   This was the first time I had noticed Chun in a leading role and she performed it with flair.  I shall look out for her in future.  Another quality I noticed on Saturday was Brooks-Daw's acting.  Scenes that stood out were her picking up and tossing down Cinderella's shawl immediately after her husband's death and the purposefulness with which she tries to separate her stepdaughter from the prince at the ball.

I have not praised everything that Nixon has produced but this is one ballet that I like a lot. This is the second time I have seen it.  On the first occasion I described it as a triumph (see Northern Ballet's Cinderella - a Triumph 27 Dec 2013).  Though not perfect in every respect, Cinderella is one of the best works in Northern Ballet's repertoire.  It is just over halfway through a nationwide tour that started last September and ends in June.  It stays at the Grand until 2 Jan and will then visit Leicester, Milton Keynes and the Lowry.  If you can reach any of those venues, it is well worth seeing.

Wheeldon's Cinderella in Manchester

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English National Ballet Cinderella Palace Theatre 19 Oct 2019 14:00

I have now seen Christopher Wheeldon's Cinderella no less than four times: twice with the Dutch National Ballet once in London and the other time in Amsterdam; and twice with the English National Ballet once at the Royal Albert Hall earlier this year and most recently at the Palace Theatre in my home town.  It is a sumptuous ballet with gorgeous costumes and elaborate sets. It is also very witty with glowering portraits and hilarious faux-pas from Hortensia as she downs the bubbly at the prince's ball.

The Palance has the smallest stage upon which I have seen this show and it struck me as I looked at the somewhat blurry cloud scene that it would not di justice to the animations that are built into the sets. I need not have worried because the dancing attracted and held my attention.  Erina Takahashi danced the title role and she fitted it perfectly.  Joseph Caley was her prince and I can't think of a better partner for her. He delighted me in the first duet in the palace where they fell in love and then in the last scene when she produced the missing slipper.  But there is a lot more to this ballet than a love story which is why the supporting characters are so important.

At the Albert Hall, it was Sarah Kundi who nade the ballet for me,   She danced Cinderella's stepmother, Hortensia, who made an exhibition of herself even before the wine was served. As the second act continued she became tighter and tighter and behaved increasingly outrageously.  She turns up at the breakfast table with a head the size of a balloon, a vile temper and eventually throws up in the porridge bowl. At the Saturday matinee, that role was danced by Tiffany Hedman, Now she is good - particularly technically - but I think you have to be brought up in the country that invented pantomime to carry it off s well as Kundi.

The other theme of Wheeldon's ballet is the romance between the prince's childhood companion, Benjamin, and Cinderella's stepsister, Clementine.  He was danced by the American guest artist Brooklyn Mack and she by Katja Khaniukova.  I also enjoyed watching Alison McWhiney who danced Edwina amusingly. 

There are scenes from other productions of the ballet that Wheeldon leaves out such as the dancing lesson and substituted wood spirits and seasons in their place.  I am still not sure how that works but I suppose it gives an excuse for woodland sprits and other strange creations to take their place in the queue for the shoe filling with the knight in armour brandishing a halberd.  I enjoyed the second where an alarmed Benjamin jumped straight into the prince's arms.

After Manchester, this show went on to Southampton where it seems to have run its course for the time being.  That is a pity because I think it is English National's best show in the repertoire and I am sure that other audiences would like to have seen it.  Most classical companies feel compelled to do The Nutcracker at this time of the year which is fair enough but they could have rested Le Corsaire and Akram Khan's Giselle for just a little longer.  Especially since audiences will have Dada Masilo's excellent production in their recent recollection.

Cinders in the Round

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English National Ballet Cinderella  Royal Albert Hall 9 June 2019, 14:30

I have seen three of English National Ballet's productions in the Royal Albert Hall: Romeo and Juliet in 2014, Swan Lake in 2016 and now Cinderella.  The last of those is by far the best.  I would go so far as to say that it was one of the best shows by that company I have ever seen in a lifetime of pretty regular ballet going.

This was not an entirely new show for me, or indeed for London, as it is an adaptation of Christopher Wheeldon's production for the Dutch National Ballet. That company performed it at the Coliseum in 2015 (see Wheeldon's Cinderella 13 July 2015).  I saw it again in Amsterdam just before Christmas (see Cinderella in the Stopera 24 Dec 2018). Wheeldon has used the same creatives: Craig Luca for the libretto, Julian Crouch for sets and costumes, Basil Twist for the tree and carriage, Daniel Brodie for the video and Natasha Katz for the lighting design.

There are several big differences between the Albert Hall and the Stopera or Coliseum.  The first is that the audience surrounds the stage and dancers make their entrances and exits down the gangways. A wonderful opportunity, incidentally, to admire the dancers' costumes, hairstyles and makeup. The second is scale. The projectionist did some wonderful things with a massive screen that stretched from floor to ceiling. One scene showed the royal palace with portraits of the royal family looking down sternly on the antics of the coming generation. One developed horns, another blushes and yet another a withering frown of indignation. The third big difference was that the orchestra performed on a platform high above the stage where they had enough space to swing a leopard. So much better than being cooped up in an orchestra pit under the stage.

The story progressed very much as it had in Holland.  Little Cinders is playing with her parents when her mum suddenly coughs up blood.  The scene changes to the graveyard where her father introduces a new lady in his life.  At first, she does not seem to be such a bad old stick because she presents (or rather gets one of her daughters to present) a bouquet to Cinderella.  Cinders lets the flowers fall to the floor. Perhaps not surprisingly, the new step mum just does not like her new stepdaughter.

The two stepsisters are actually girls, unlike Ashton's version in which he and Robert Helpmann put on drag. One of them is a little kinder to Cinders than the other.  Wheeldon cuts out the dancing lesson and visits from the cobbler, dressmaker and milliner and substitutes spirits of lightness,  generosity, mystery and fluidity representing the seasons. These take the form of tree trunks, unicorns and conkers instead.  He even does away with the fairy godmother but gives her four fates, Skyler Martin (formerly of HNB), Daniel McCormick, Erik Woolhouse and Aitor Arrieta instead. They arrange for Cinders to be conveyed to the ball ib one of the most ingenious carriages I have ever seen.

The second act is the prince's ball where the step mum and her daughters turn up with Cinders's dad but no Cinders wearing quite the wrong outfits and generally making fools of themselves.   Things got worse when the drink was served because the stepmother drank just a teeny weeny bit too much and had to be lifted off the floor and carried to a couch. That role was performed by Sarah Kundi who is one of my favourite dancers. I have followed her ever since she was with Northern Ballet in Leeds. She used to remind me of a famous dancer of my youth whom she still resembles in many ways. Since she joined ENB I have begun to appreciate her for her own qualities.  Kundi stole the second act if not the show and she raised more than a few laughs in the third act when she showed up at the breakfast table with one almighty hangover.

Back to the story. Cinders arrives in a lovely golden dress. She is spotted by the prince who falls for her. Everything goes swimmingly until midnight when the clock chimes, the fates arrive and her stepmother cottons on as to who she must be. Cinders scarpers leaving one of her shoes behind. The third act begins with Cinders serving her dad, Her step mum arrives nursing her head and pukes into the porridge bowl.  The prince then tours his kingdom slipper in hand auditioning for brides.  Some improbable candidates show up. A knight in armour. One of the trees. A unicorn.  Something with very smelly feet.  The step mum and her two daughters one of whom is molested by her mother with a mallet.

And, finally. Cinderella who fits the slipper perfectly.  The stepmother peevishly tosses it onto the fire but, happily, Cinders kept the other one. There is a royal wedding and everyone is happy.  Cinderella even has a kiss for her former tormenter.  And the kinder of the two step-sisters finds love with the prince's best friend.  I have been rather spoilt watching  Anna Tsygankova and Matthew Golding in the leading roles in London and Remi Wörtmeyer and Anna Ol in Amsterdam but Erina Takahashi was a lovely Cinders and Joseph Caley was a great prince. Good to see Gavin Sutherland from Huddersfield conducting the orchestra, But the star for me on Sunday was definitely Kundi.

Hampson's Cinderella: Coming up Roses

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Scottish Ballet Cinderella  Theatre Royal, Newcastle, 1 Feb 2019

I first saw Christopher Hampson's Cinderella in Edinburgh on 19 Dec 2015 and I loved it  (see Scottish Ballet's Cinderella 20 Dec 2015). I saw it again in Newcastle on Friday and loved it all the more.  I have been asking myself why I love it so much.  I think it is because it is multilayered.  Very different from the pantomimes and films of childhood.

At one layer there is the narrative.  The libretto is conventional enough but, to get a better idea of the theme, watch the video, Designing Cinderella.  Hampson and his designer, Tracy Grant Lord. explain the significance of the rose.  That is the second layer.  Roses are even more important than glass slippers because Cinders's slipper is discovered and shredded.  "How is the prince to authenticate his bride?" the audience wonders as the rest of womankind force their hooves and flippers into the discarded shoe.  Happily, Cinderella had another memento of the evening, namely the silver rose that the prince had given her at the ball.  She produced that rose and all was well.  Roses are everywhere. In the backdrop, the clothes and of course the cemetery where Cinderella's mum is buried.

But there is a layer below the roses and I think that it explains why the ballet appeals so much to me.  Hampson's ballet is a study of emotion.  After the death of his first wife, Cinderella's father seeks solace in a second marriage but it fails to work.  Cinderella is a constant reminder.  He takes to drink incurring the contempt of his stepchildren and the despair of his new wife.  Reason enough to explain her resentment of Cinderella.

In most interpretations of the story, Cinderella is a victim. Not so much in this ballet,  Not even as a scullery maid,  She is resourceful.  She has the cash for her mother's portrait which the stepmother is desperate to remove  She can dance in contrast to her stepsisters' stumblings. Even her work clothes eclipse her stepsisters' finery. The prince for all his wealth and power is lonely.  It is Cinderella who rescues him from his loneliness at least as much as he rescues her from her servitude.

Such complex characters are difficult to portray.  When I saw the show in Edinburgh I was enchanted by Bethany Kingsley-Garner and Christopher Harrison.  They were so good I had to see them in those roles a second time. Kingsley-Garner commands a stage like few others.  An actress as much as a dancer and she is a dancer of considerable strength and virtuosity.  Hampson demands a lot from his Cinderellas such as successions of relevés combined with dévelopés and his trade mark backwards jump.  Delightful to watch but probably exhausting to perform.  Another favourite, Araminta Wraith, danced Cinderella's stepmother.  She is also a fine communicator.  She helped me understand and sympathize with her character better than I had ever done before. Nicholas Shoesmith portrayed Cinderella's broken father with pathos.  Claire Souet and Aisling Brangan the ridiculous stepsisters with bathos. Grace Horler charmed us as the fairy godmother.

In my estimation, Hampson is the best narrative ballet choreographer that we have,   He may be less prolific in this genre than other choreographers but everything he produces is good,  Next year he will present The Snow Queen to mark the 50th anniversary of the company's move from Bristol.  With music by Rimsky-Korsakov and designs by Lez Brotherston, it should be splendid.

Cinderella in the Stopera

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Dutch National Ballet Cinderella 22 Dec 2018 , 20:00, Stopera, Amsterdam

In July 2015 the Dutch National Ballet performed Christopher Wheeldon's Cinderella at the Coliseum. It played to full houses and audiences seemed to like it but though not all critics did.  In my review, Wheeldon's Cinderella 13 July 2015, I wrote:

"I enjoyed the show. I liked Wheeldon's treatment of the story, the dancing, Julian Crouch's designs and Natasha Katz's lighting. I prefer it to The Winter's Tale to which I was indifferent when I first saw it on stage but warmed to it when I saw it in the cinema and on television. It may be that Wheeldon is an acquired taste and that his critics will come round. I look forward to seeing the show again and I think it will look even better on the stage of the Stopera."

Well, I saw it in the Stopera on Saturday 22 Dec 2018 and was bowled over by it.  At the end of the second act, I wrote on my Facebook page: "Christmas has been made for me by  DutchNatBallet's Cinderella even if I never get a single present, a Christmas card, a slice of Turkey, a smidgeon of plum pudding, a mince pie or a whiff of mulled wine."

Why the difference?  The answer came when I joined a tour of the Stopera for new Friends on my birthday in 2016 (see Double Dutch Delights 17 Feb 2016).  One of the senior technical staff welcomed us to the stage and showed us some of the computer equipment at his command.  I mentioned that I had attended a performance of Cinderella in London the previous summer and asked him how the company found the Coliseum.  He replied that the company enjoyed their visit to London very much through the Coliseum lacked the state-of-the-art equipment and facilities that they enjoy at the Stopera. That equipment enabled the tree over the grave of Cinderella's mother to grow and change colour with the seasons. It showed birds in flight and falling rain at the funeral of Cinderella's mother.

I noted the similarities between Cinderella and The Winter's Tale in my previous review.  In both, the lead characters were introduced as children and both features a massive tree.  In a strange sort of way, Cinderella was actually more Shakespearean than the ballet that was based on a Shakespeare play.  Excitement was ratcheted up as in a Shakespearean play.  When Cinderella's appeared in a golden gown the lights on stage were cut and the house lights switched to full brightness.  That moment was matched at the end of the next act when Cinderella ran off stage right into the stalls and through the audience to the exit.

There was also plenty of humour that provided dramatic relief.  Cinderella's stepmother, Hortensia, became tight at the ball as the evening wore on much to the embarrassment of her husband.  Benjamin, the prince's friend, fell head over heels in love with the plainer of Hortensia's daughters.  The most unpromising candidates queued to try Cinderella's abandoned slipper including a Balinese princess with long nails and a spiked headdress, a forest spirit with an outsized head and a knight in full armour brandishing a battle axe.  Levity is not easy to induce in ballet.  Ashton managed it his Cinderella in his pairing with Robert Helpmann as Cinderella's ugly sisters and Wheeldon succeeded in his version of the ballet.

In London, I had seen Remi Wörtmeyer as Benjamin, the prince's friend.  On Saturday he was promoted to prince, a role that suited him well.  Benjamin was danced by Sho Yamada who has impressed me twice this year.  Cinderella was Anna Ol. She commanded the audience's respect from the start and not our pity.  She showed her spirit from the moment her father (Anatole Babenko)  introduced her to Hortensia.   Hortensia had offered her a bunch of flowers that she tossed to the floor.  I sensed fear on the part of the stepmother and her sisters rather than simple malice. Hortensia, a difficult role, was danced impressively by Vera Tsyganova. Luiza Bertho danced Cinderella's stepsister Edwina and Riho Sakamoto, her other stepsister Clementine. Finally, it was great to see Jane Lord on stage again as a dance teacher.

As I had benefited from attending Rachael Beaujean's talk on Giselle last month, I attended the introductory talk on Cinderella.  That took the form of a Powerpoint presentation in a lecture room `below the auditorium between 19:15 and 19:45.  Although it was given in Dutch which is a language I have never studied I think I got the gist of it as Dutch is closely related to Engish and German. I learned that this ballet is a co-production with the San Francisco Ballet, about Ashton's influence over Wheeldon, the significance of the tree and all sorts of other useful facts.

The ballet will run to 1 Jan 2019 and is playing to full houses.  Readers who miss it this month in Amsterdam will have a chance to see English National Ballet perform a version in the round in the Albert Hall between 6 and 16 June 2019.

Inspiration in Bingley - Cinderella at Bingley Little Theatre

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Sara Packham Theatre School and Ballet North Cinderella 10 June 2018 18:00 Bingley Little Theatre

Surprisingly, the most memorable moment of the weekend came not in the valedictory performances of Dreda Blow and Victoria Sibson on the last night of Jane Eyre (excellent though though the company was - see Jane Eyre at the Lowry 10 June 2018) or in David Nixon's speech when he presented to Dreda Blow a framed photo of what I am reliably informed was a framed photo of herself as Beatrice in Ondine (apt though it was) but in a speech by the mother of a former student of the Sara Packham Theatre School at the end of a performance of Cinderella by children and adult ballet students at Bingley Little Theatre last night.

The speaker introduced herself as a parent of an actor who had established himself in New York but had started his career at that very school in Bingley. Presenting the choreographers to a packed auditorium, she explained that they were teaching not just ballet but important life skills that would transform children into confident, poised, beautiful human beings. After her speech the instructors gave each of the dancers - children as well as adults, boys as well as girls - a single rose. "This may take some time" somebody said from the stage. It did but nobody minded a bit. It was a lovely gesture and a proper induction into the traditions of the ballet.

Bingley, for readers who may not know this area, is a small town just outside Bradford. In the 19th century it was a mill town specializing in the manufacture of worsted. Now it is one of the more sought after neighbourhoods of the metropolitan district of Bradford. One of its attractions is an Arts Centre which includes the Bingley Little Theatre. It was there that a cast selected from the School and Ballet North in Halifax gave four performances of Cinderella on 10 and 11 June 2018.

I learned about the production through attending a class by Charlotte Ingleson at Ballet North in the Dance Mill on 31 May 2018 (see Class Review - Ballet North Halifax 2 June 2018). I was introduced to the class by Elaine Berrill who was one of the dancers attending Jane Tucker's class in Huddersfield on 26 May 2018 (see We have a Company 27 May 2018 Powerhouse Ballet). I noticed in the programme that Charlotte was one of the choreographers of Cinderella and that another was Martin Dutton who had taught me in a special class at KNT (see And what a class we had Feb 2017) and workshops on The Nutcracker and La Bayadère (see KNT Nutcracker Intensive 21 Dec 2017 and KNT's One Day Workshop on La Bayadère 15 April 2018).

Charlotte also danced one of the leading roles as Cinderella's mother and fairy godmother. Her young daughter also had a role in the work as a cat. There was yet another name on the cast list that I thought I knew. That of Oscar Ward as the prince. The Oscar that I knew was one of the star pupils at Ballet West and a finalist in the BBC Young Dancer competition. Could it be the same? Oscar Ward is not a very common name and not every young man with that name will be an accomplished dancer. I messaged Gillian Barton of Ballet West to find out.

"Could be, but don’t really know. I’ll try and find out." she replied

As it happened it was a coincidence. The young man who danced before us is also very promising. When I congratulated him I told him about his namesake though Yorkshire Oscar had already heard of Scottish Oscar. If he is minded to train for the stage he could do a lot worse that follow in the footsteps of the other Oscar.

 As Gillian observed,

"Every one of our male graduates has gone on to do amazing things. BW is a great school for boys as they get so many opportunities."

Earlier today, Isaac Peter Bowry whom I had first seen as Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker in 2013 announced on Facebook:

"So I’ve got another big announcement to make!! 

I can now say that I am officially joining the Birmingham Royal Ballet to perform in Kennith Macmillan’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ 

I’ll be performing in all the Birmingham performances between the 26th- 30th June!"

But I digress. There were lots of other dancers who impressed me.

There were three Cinderellas - one as a child, another as a young person and the third as the belle of the ball. Young Cinderella was Alice Brocklesby, Clarice Keller-Bradbury and Sienna Brandolino alternated in the role of Cinderella as a young person and Leah Robinson and Sophie Talbot in the role of Cinderella at the ball. I am not sure which of the alternates I saw last night but I congratulate Alice and the other dancers who portrayed her in later life.

The show was basically the Cinderella we know to Prokofiev's score with a little bit of The Sleeping Beauty bolted on. The bolt on was a divertissement that enabled four talented soloists - Hollie Kate Smith, Harriet Berry, Katie Barber and Jess Leeming to dance Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter fairies and Lexie Meehan a dragonfly. Lots of roles were found for lots of dancers from mini-movers to the adult pointe class. It was good to see a few very talented young boys in the cast.

At the ball Oscar Ward showed that he can jump, turn and lift with the best of them. His Cinders in a classical tutu was lovely. Her stepmother, Catriona Ford, and step sisters, Ellen Richard and Grace Macdonald, amused us with their antics. One in an unsightly green wig and the other in pink. They also got a tiny bit tipsy towards the end giving an entirely new meaning to pas de bourée. There was humour too is the search for the owner of the missing slipper. One candidate barely broke her conversation on her mobile. Another nearly dropped a pile of precariously positioned pizzas. A hefty subject in a wig and a skirt had a go to a squall of derision.

This was tightly directed, well rehearsed with realistic sets and costumes. I saw a lot of happy mums and dads and siblings, even happier artists and a particularly proud and happy Charlotte Ingleson. The audience were appreciative and engaged. It was a treat to be there.

Ballet Cymru's Cinderella Second Time Round

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Ballet Cymru Cinderella Waterside Arts Centre, Sale 2 June 2018, 19:30

I expected great things from Wales's national ballet company (see Ballet Cymru 2018 Summer Tour 21 April 2018). I was not disappointed. Cinderella is the best work in Ballet Cymru's repertoire and their Cinderella is (in my humble, northern, rustic opinion) pretty well the best anywhere. But then what do I know? After all, I have only seen Ashton's, Bintley's, Bourne's, Gable's, Hampson's, Nixon's, Ratmansky's, Wheeldon's and probably one or two others that I have forgotten. While I love nearly all those other works, Darius James and Amy Doughty's is the one I love best.

There are four reasons why I love James and Doughty's version so much. The first is that it is very pure.  The libretto sticks closely to Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's story which is actually quite short and very tight. So, too, is the ballet.  As I noted in Ballet Cymru's Cinderella 15 June 2015:

"This is a very tight production that adapts well to touring with ingenious costume and stage design and lighting. It is dramatic and poignant in parts but also witty. It is exactly the right length. It tells the story in full but does not drag for a second. It makes maximum use of the company's small but very talented troupe of dancers."

That brings me on to the second reason why that ballet is so good which is that James and Doughty give every character his or her moment in the spotlight. Let me give just one example.  In the first act Cas (Cinderella's stepbrother) spins Seren (her stepsister) spectacularly around the stage. Those names lead me to the fourth point. The ballet is very Welsh by which I mean that it is free of frippery and frivolity like a Calvinist chapel but, like the singing that might emanate from such chapel, emotionally very strong.  And most Welsh of all (the fourth reason why I love this ballet) is Jack White's simple, moving, beautiful score.

There have been a few changes to the production since 2015. The company relies heavily on its lighting design to set the scene and there seem to have been some new projections. There seem to be fewer voice overs from the Grimms' text. The ballet opens with the words:

"Dear child, remain pious and good, and then our dear God will always protect you, and I will look down on you from heaven and be near you."

But I can't remember any others which is a shame because I think they were useful cues for the audience in the performance that I saw in Lincoln. I think there may have been some minor changes to the libretto. I remember a chair in which Cinderella's mother died which seems to have disappeared but I do not remember a bike for Prince Madoc or his chum Maldwyn which seems to have added this time.

The biggest change of all, of course, is in the dancers who have joined the company.  Beth Meadway was an enchanting Cinders. Before the show I noted on Facebook that she comes from Hull, the city of Xander Parish and Kevin O'Hare. Xander picked it up and reacted with a "like". Well, all I can say is that they would both have been proud of their fellow codhead.  Another dancer who impressed Gita, in particular, was Eka Mastrangelo. Gita, who has studied Indian dance as well as ballet, noticed how Eka moved. "She must have studied Bharatanatyam" remarked Gita during the interval.  And so it transpired when we met the cast briefly after the show. Eka also confirmed that she worked with her eyes which help to tell the story in Indian dance. Gita also had a fair old chinwag with Alex Hallas who comes from Baildon near Bradford, another city that has produced more top class dancers.  I congratulated Isobel Holland who doubled as Cinderella's dying mum and the bird that looked after her and Maria Teresa Brunello who danced Seren.

It was good also to see again the dancers we already knew: Robbie Moorcroft who danced Prince Madoc, Miguel Fernandes who danced Maldwyn and Dan Morrison who danced Cinderella's father.

Much as I love this ballet there is one aspect that saddens me deeply.  The last time I saw it was a  rehearsal of the second act that the company performed in its studio for the members of the London Ballet Circle (see Ballet Cymru at Home 5 Oct 2015).  Maldwyn was danced by Mandev Sokhi who died a few days later.  Mandev was a beautiful dancer. What was particularly poignant last night is that he had connections with Cheshire. He certainly trained there - possibly at the Hammond.  In Remembering Mandev Sokhi 27 Nov 2015 I wrote:

"Mandev will be remembered tonight far beyond Newport and indeed well beyond Wales for he danced wth Ballet Cymru in every part of the United Kingdom."

I suggested two practical ways of remembering him one of which was to attend an even that has now passed. The other is still available and that is to become a Friend of the company.  Ballet Cymru is a national treasure not just of Wales but of the whole United Kingdom and we owe it to ourselves to help it grow and flourish.

If you you live in Northwest England and missed the show last night you can still catch it tonight in Preston, Otherwise you will have to travel.  But like a restaurant in the Guide Rouge with three rosettes, this show is well worth the journey.

Ballet Cymru's 2018 Summer Tour

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For its 2018 summer tour which opens in Newport on 11 May 2018, Ballet Cymru has revived Darius James and Amy Doughty's Cinderella.  The first time I saw that beautiful ballet I wrote in Ballet Cymru's Cinderella 15 June 2015:

"I have seen a lot of versions of Cinderella over the years: Ashton's of course for the Royal Ballet but also Matthew Bourne's set in wartime London, Nixon's for Northern Ballet and a version danced by the Bristol Russian Youth Ballet Company which starred Elena Glurdjidze (see Good Show - Bristol Russians' Cinderella in Stockport 19 Feb 2014), Until yesterday evening I liked Ashton's version best but now I think I prefer Darius James and Amy Doughty's for Ballet Cymru. Perhaps I will change my mind again when I see Christopher Wheeldon's for the Dutch National Ballet at the Coliseum on 11 July 2015 as it looks lovely in the YouTube trailer, but for now this Welsh Cinderella is my favourite."

I saw Wheeldon's Cinderella less than a month later and loved it but not more than James and Doughty's. Theirs is a little gem.  One of the best Cinderellas ever created by any company.

The places to which Ballet Cymru are taking Cinderella on tour are as follows:

• Newport  11-12 May
• Ayr 16 May
• Blackwood  23 May
• King's Lynn 27 May
• Teignmouth 30 May
• Abergavenny 1 June
• Sale 2 June 
• Preston 3 June
• Hereford 7 June 
• Lincoln 10 June
• Bury St Edmunds 11-12 June
• Newcastle under Lyme 13 June
• Tewkesbury 15 June
• Basingstoke 16 June
• Bracknell 17 June 
• Milford Haven 20 June 
• Taunton 30 June 
• Stevenage 4 July 
• Lichfield 6 July
• Bangor 7 July.

If you live anywhere near any of those towns and cities, do yourself a favour and book yourself a ticket.

What thrills me even more than the revival of Cinderella is the launch of  A Child’s Christmas In Wales at the Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage on 5 July 2018.  Why the company has waited until just after the summer solstice to launch a ballet about Christmas and why it as decided to do so in Hertfordshire of all places beats me. Never mind! It will be good.  I shall be there. With music by Cerys Matthews, how could it be anything else? Even though its dancers and creatives come from the four corners of the earth, Ballet Cymru is an unmistakably Welsh company.  As such it is at its best when it is most Welsh. 

So this should be Ballet Cymru's best summer season yet.  As I also said in my 2015 review of Cinderella: "Ballet Cyrmu is a great national treasure not just for the principality but for the whole United Kingdom ...... It is a good example of what a small touring company can do and provides an excellent model for others."