This a sweet telling of the Cinderella fairytale – or a version of it – which is beautifully danced and very pretty to look at (and listen to, since musicians are back in the pit after a much-publicised dispute).
Sweet and comical, since Cinders’ two stepsisters (Ugly Sisters, as panto would have them) are danced by men in drag – or en travesti which the programme tells me is proper ballet lingo.
Not that they’re the prettiest spectacle in this pretty production.
It can’t be easy for a professional dancer to dance badly on purpose yet Yu Wakizuka (Lucretia) and Andrew Tomlinson (Prunella) pulled it off perfectly on Wednesday night, their deliberately gauche and gawky movements executed to excruciating perfection.
They’ll be back on stage on Friday with the roles taken by another Northern Ballet pair for the rest of the short run, rotation being the way of the Leeds-based company.
This is the UK premiere of Michael Pink’s production which was created for his Milwaukee Ballet in 2009. He was associate artistic director of Northern Ballet in the 1990s, working alongside the inspirational Michael Gable.
And while it’s sweet – I think I’ve said that – and very family-friendly, there’s no great sense of jeopardy, which might be a plus, of course. It’s really down to taste.
Cinders, delicately embodied on Wednesday by Japanese principal dancer Saeka Shirai, never seems truly alone, as in her versus a cruel and vindictive world.
The bullying of her stepsisters is tempered by their self-defeating idiocy and not only is her wimpish father still on the scene but so is the spirit of her late mother, watching over her in the manner of the Fairy Godmother and sending messages by falling rose petal or the spectral equivalent of telepathy.
Then there’s the houseboy Jack (Harris Beattie on Wednesday), attentive and brotherly.
The moments of highest drama also seem a little down played, the transformation of the put-upon cleaning girl into belle of the ball somewhat matter-of-fact (I always want ponies) and the climactic fitting on of the lost shoe similarly somewhat casual.
The latter, of course, in any Cinderella production, asks us to believe that a prince (Jonathan Hanks on Wednesday) won’t recognise the girl he danced with all night until he’s checked her shoe size. Maybe that’s how it works in royal circles. It might explain a lot.
Still, plenty to enjoy. I liked the humour of the chancers putting their best foot forward in a vain attempt to bag the prince, each being whisked in – some held aloft – before registering disappointment, frustration or petulant rage.
And I enjoyed Alessia Petrosino as Stepmother (not ‘wicked’ stepmother) wagging her finger and putting her foot down most firmly. There are ways to wag a finger and put a foot down. Having been on the receiving end, I would judge this to be among the most acceptable. It’s certainly the most balletic.
At the final curtain call associate conductor Daniel Parkinson came onto a stage littered with glittering stars to take a bow alongside the dancers and pointedly gestured at the musicians below.
We’re back, he seemed to be saying, and ballet is the better for it. I wouldn’t dispute that. Musicians over ponies any day. Prokofiev’s score is in good hands.
Northern Ballet’s Cinderella is here until Saturday, October 31. Tickets from the Theatre Royal box office.