Canadian choreographer James Kudelka's inventive, contemporary reimagining of the time-honoured tale 'Cinderella' has one foot in fairyland but an even firmer one in a world that is recognizably real, writes Michael Crabb.
National Ballet of Canada. Choreographed by James Kudelka. At the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, until March 19When it comes to theatrical renderings of the millennia-old, archetypal, rags-to-riches Cinderella story, the former seems to be the prevalent taste, unless you are Canadian choreographer James Kudelka. His inventive, contemporary reimagining of the time-honoured tale has one foot in fairyland but an even firmer one in a world that is recognizably real.
One can imagine that making major debuts under such an intense spotlight might be a little unnerving for two young dancers but you’d never guess it from Nabity and Larkin’s rapturously confident performances.
Larkin Miller fits the ballet prince mould perfectly. He’s tall, handsome, tastefully virile and attentive to a partner’s needs. You sometimes have to wonder if Kudelka likes tempting fate when it comes to the difficult lifts and direction changes he builds in to his pas deux. His “Cinderella” duet work is a like a ballet minefield but Larkin made the lifts if not always effortless at least not scary to watch.
Yes, it’s the search for the foot that fits the abandoned slipper, a quest that in Kudelka’s version takes the prince and his entourage on a round-the-world journey, using up all of composer Sergei Prokofiev’s “travelling” music in the process. In keeping with today’s heightened sensitivities, Kudelka has modified one of the prince’s more problematic “does the shoe fit?” encounters.
Before the arrival of Hope Muir as artistic director in January 2022, the National Ballet entered an agreement with the Royal Ballet in London to share the cost of a new production of a 75-year-old version of “Cinderella” choreographed for that company by Frederick Ashton. If the pandemic had not come along, we might have been seeing this redecorated production here now, instead of the one Kudelka tailor-made for the National Ballet 19 years ago.
Evelyn Hart shared that she considers Kudelka’s “Cinderella” among the best she’s seen. She is not alone. News that Ashton’s version would be coming to Toronto was not greeted with universal jubilation among the dancers.
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