Joffrey 'Cinderella' A Marvelous Mix of Music, Theater and Dance

On view this weekend and next (through February 28, 2010) at the landmark Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt Unversity (in downtown Chicago) is an impressive, lovely, and sweetly moving mounting of Sir Frederick Ashton's 1948 choreography for Sergei Prokofiev's "Cinderella." Originally composed in the first half of that decade for the Bolshoi Ballet, Prokofiev's score is being performed live here by the Chicago Sinfonietta, under the baton of noted young conductor and author Scott Speck. The full Joffrey company, more than forty cast members in all, are presenting this world-class evening of story ballet for our collective enjoyment, complete with high drama (love the end of Act II), comedy, quick costume changes, ethereal fairy magic and some pretty impressively accomplished classical ballet technique. The whole evening is directed and supervised by Wendy Ellis Somes, who joined Britain's Royal Ballet in 1970, the year that Ashton retired.

The three performance disciplines of music, theater and dance are all in full force here. Prokofiev's music, while angular and definitely twentieth century, has humor, warmth, comedy and drama in its full symphonic splendor. The Chicago Sinfonietta, surely a more accomplished pit orchestra than most, played with sheen, suppleness and full-bodied clarity during the opening night performance (Wednesday, February 17th), though there were a full missed notes in the string section. But, far better to have live musicians than canned perfection, in that the movement of bodies in space can vary from night to night, and from performer to performer in this multi-cast production. Note also that the composer recognizably quotes from his earlier success, the opera "The Love for Three Oranges," in the second act sequence in which the two step-sisters fight over some gift oranges. It is fascinating to note the world premiere of that opera took place in this very same Auditorium Theatre. And I adored the fact that two Sinfonietta violinists (David Belden and Charles Bontrager) played live on stage as the Two Fiddlers in Act I. 

As for the theatrical elements of the evening, the enormous stage of the Auditorium is rarely needed these days, but it sure gets full use here. David Walker's set design, though dark and ominous (I suppose to better set off the bodies of the dancers, especially in Act III) is at its most amazing in Act I, scene II, when six different full backdrops "scrim through" to reveal a new set of dancers behind them. Six! When's the last time you saw that in any theater, anywhere? Pretty darn amazing. And Walker's costumes (early 19th century, I think) are pretty detailed too, from the identical tulle tutus of the female corps de ballet (portraying "The Stars" in Act I) to the individual ones worn by Cinderella, The Fairy Godmother and the Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter Fairies. But I especially liked the cloaked beggarwoman figure, and Cinderella's rags-more theater than ballet, I think, and nicely done. 

I suppose that the plot of this "story ballet" should be considered a theatrical element as well, and it does not disappoint. Readers of this review might be more familiar with Rodgers and Hammerstein's version of Perrault's fairy tale, written for television in 1957 for Julie Andrews and televised twice more. Much of that version is recognizable here, though the Prince doesn't seem to have parents, and Cinderella herself has not a wicked stepmother but a milquetoast father (danced by Patrick Simionello). Her stepsisters (here portrayed by David Gombert and Michael Smith in dresses and extreme makeup) are not evil but merely self-absorbed, too busy picking on each other to include Cinderella in their havoc. She seems to dream of being a lovely ballet dancer as well as of becoming a Princess, and of course by the end of the evening she is both. The above-mentioned seasonal fairies do seem a little extraneous to the plot, but they provide a little length and a sense of the outdoors to the otherwise fairly straightforward and indoor narrative. Not a bad thing at all, really. And the "winter" backdrop is perhaps the most beautiful painted drop I have ever seen. 

And, oh, yes! What about the dancing? Well, the company was precise, grand and luminous--just what you would expect of one of America's (if not the world's) leading ballet companies. And the cast members from the Joffrey's official school, the Academy of Dance, and from ChiArts, the new Chicago High School for the Performing Arts, acquitted themselves quite well, even nobly. The above-mentioned fairies, danced by Allison Walsh (Spring), Christine Rocas (Summer), Yumelia Garcia (Autumn) and Valerie Robin (Winter) danced exciting variations and became a pretty nicely coordinated team as well, just before Cinderella's magic coach whisked her off to the ball at the end of Act I. Some of the company's men shone in Act I, Scene I, as The Dancing Master (Graham Maverick), A Tailor (John Mark Giragosian), The Shoemaker (Brian Gephart), The Hairdresser (Tian Shuan), A Jeweler (Thomas Nicholas) and The Coachman (Dylan Gutierrez) helped prepare the Stepsisters for the ball, in comic, character and serious dancing terms. In Act II, Brian Gephart and Fabrice Calmels as the mismatched Stepsisters' Suitors showed solid technique and stage presence. 

In major roles, Derrick Agnoletti showed great split leaps as The Jester, but his spinning jumps sometimes veered away from the vertical. April Daly as The Fairy Godmother was solid as a rock, displaying fine pointe work, soaring leaps and a lovely sense of the supernatural in her gestures. As The Prince, Miguel Blanco was exemplary, showing finely controlled aerial work and a dignified bearing (though his facial expression was occasionally one of worry, which he does not need to be). And his partnering work with Cinderella was quite attentive, too, with lifts that bordered on the physically impossible. The long lift at the end of their pas de deux in Act II was so long that I literally don't know how it was done. Blanco doesn't look that strong, but he surely must be.

And what about the lady herself, Victoria Jaiani as Cinderella? Well, she was pretty near to perfect, frankly. Her early dancing for the portrait of her mother and with a broom instead of a prince was all simple, elegant and heartbreaking. Her Act II entrance, in which she danced down a flight of stairs (seven, I think) on pointe and without looking down even once, was as impressive as it was meant to be. And throughout the evening, her ability to lift her foot over her head with scarcely a twitch was as controlled and classic as were her running on pointe, her exquisite line from finger to turned out leg, and her expressive port de bras.

If pressed to find a flaw in her star performance, I would say that her facial expressions were not as varied and radiant as I could imagine. (I think she bit her lip once, quite near the end!) But this is a minor quibble. Jaiani turned in a technically impressive and dramatically expressive performance, as did the entire cast of Joffrey performers and guests. This is a fine, fine evening of ballet, accessible, clear and funny for the teenagers among us and thought-provoking, detailed and artistically sumptuous for the grown-up. For sights, sounds and staging, the dance, music and theater of the Joffrey Ballet's "Cinderella" should be savored and shared among all those who treasure a worthwhile evening of world class performing arts. Bravo, tutti! 

"Cinderella," with music by Sergei Prokofiev and choreography by Sir Frederick Ashton, is being presented by the Joffrey Ballet from February 17-28, 2010 at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University. Tickets are available at the Joffrey Ballet's box office (10 E. Randolph Street), at the Auditorium Theatre box office and at www.ticketmaster.com. 

Photographs by Herbert Migdoll and by Temur Suluashvili.  

Photographs (from top to bottom):  Victoria Jaiani; David Gombert, Victoria Jaiani and Michael Smith; Yumelia Garcia; Victoria Jaiani and Miguel Blanco; Victoria Jaiani.

 

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