Joffrey's "Cinderella"- An Old Oct 2006 Review

Joffrey Ballet's "Cinderella" Oct 4th-15th Chicago, IL
October 08, 2006, 09:45:14 PM [Originally posted on The Winger Msg Board]
http://thewinger.com/mboard/index.php?topic=186.msg458#msg458
This was the 1st live ballet review I had ever written. I was already in love with the male stars of ABT so my opinions were definitely biased towards ABT. I've since changed my views.


Hello,I just have to share my experience of Sir Ashton’s “Cinderella” with the Joffrey Ballet at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University. The program was touted as the first American performance by this particular choreographer. Keep in mind, I have not seen a live classical ballet performance in more than 2-3 years nor since I saw “Center Stage” and learned about the existence of NYCB and ABT. In a word for me, the ballet overall was ‘exquisite’. I had no idea how much fun a performance could be until I really opened myself up to it. Because I cannot recall having been to more than 6 different auditoriums, I was taken aback by the fact that my chair was free standing, plush, high-backed and facing perpendicular to the stage, which was awkward, because everyone had to move and shuffle chairs so everyone could squeeze into the entrance and see the stage. My box seat was upper tier and cost $25.00 (plus an add’l $11.00 via Ticket masters). Also, one wrong move forward and one would plummet over the dangerously low-walled balcony. Part of the experience was meeting and exchanging commentary with my fellow box seat members before and during the 2 intermissions. They consisted of a former ballet dancer, Mr Douglas Henshaw, who is now 71 years old, two transgendered females (they were pretty quiet), and an odd, but sweet, talkative couple. From a personal and medical point of view, I could not have been seated with a better bunch of individuals because of the stimuli. Overall, the theatre is beautiful, and I am told has the best acoustics in the USA. I could see everyone onstage and everyone in the orchestra pit.

As far as I know, there are no current superstars in this company, which prides itself on being an ensemble cast with equal opportunity for starring roles. I had never heard of any of the dancers prior to attending, but had read some mediocre to mixed reviews about the company’s performance last season. Like I cared, it was live ballet. Cinderella was danced by Victoria Jaiani, who was fabulous. The Prince was danced by Mauro Villanueva, who got off to an awkward start but thoroughly won my support. The fairy Godmother was danced beautifully by Suzanne Lopez. And finally, the Jester was danced by a cutie named, Calvin Kitten. Two guest artists played the Ugly Stepsisters to perfection: Gary Chryst & Christian Holder. The rest of the ensemble was excellent. For strictly personal reasons, I loved the multiple ethnic groups represented in the company including the conductor and orchestra; it almost brought a tear to my eye.

Okay, so I cannot do a fair comparison btw ABT and Joffrey. However, ABT’s Swan Lake & Joffrey’s Cinderella are big productions with some similarities. One thing the Joffrey was lacking in overall was timing with the musical score, which Douglass said may have been due to the difficulty of the musical score. I don’t know? The Jester achieved great élan (sp?) or should I just say height and was technically good; however, he never quite finished on bended knee or with punctuation with the ending of the score. The Prince did a sequence of turns in the air in which he landed in a weird way such that I didn’t really see a smooth plie then turn, plie, turn so it looked like he just jumped and stopped, jumped and stopped, etc.; Douglass said he never landed in a tight 5th foot position but rather a looser variation of that so that no plie was achieved. At any rate, I noticed it right away, and I am a novice but after watching the superstars of ABT do that move to absolute perfection, I would have to have been blind to miss it. There was one moment when the entire audience gasped and held our collective breath as Cinderella made her grand entrance into the ballroom post-transformation; she was wearing a long gauzy-like cape which was carried by 4-6 boys. As she was going down the 3rd of seven very high and somewhat narrow steps, en pointe & holding hands with the Prince, we all saw one of her feet catch on a step and she hesitated for just a moment there and then again as she continued down the remaining three stairs before safely reaching stage level. She handled herself remarkably well in that situation and never did she break from character as her gaze was transfixed forward. It was awesome!! My favorite part was the pas de deux and adagio. The partnering seemed so intimate and delicate, but I could sense how much trust the two had in each other, which was just incredible to witness. I have seen many fabulous partnerships but today, it just blew me away!! It felt like Cinderella and the Prince were dancing for everyone in that auditorium as if all of our lives depended on watching these two express their love for one another. It was simply breath-taking! How many years it must have taken to create such a moment onstage, and just for us it seemed? Without a doubt, there is no way to express the energy and delicacy of a live performance through a camera lens.