Wednesday’s matinee performance of Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella was luxurious casting of such refined elegance and understated beauty that it felt like we had our very own little Royal Ballet on stage. Stella Abrera as Cinderella, Joseph Gorak as The Prince, and Devon Teuscher as The Fairy Godmother were the most perfectly matched trio that we have yet seen in ABT’s production which was new last year.
Making her debut as Cinderella in the Ashton production, Stella Abrera was the epitome of refinement, grace, scrupulous form, and warmth. Luminous, confident, and generous to her fellow performers, Stella gave a gorgeous performance in the Ashton mode with plenty of sweep and bend in the torso and note-perfect pics with her pointes. Her Act II variation glistened – one could feel Cinderella’s rush of excitement and disbelief in her good fortune at the ball. So lovely were her little backbends while standing on one pointe with her back to the audience. So sparkling was her manege of soutenu, chaines, and pique turns that one wished she would go around for a third lap.
Joseph Gorak was also in top form and now hovers around the pinnacle of ABT’s men. The deer-like vault and expanse of his grand jetes took one’s breath away. The princely posture, slow gesturing of his hands, and appearance of genuine belief in the character who he was portraying are like none other at ABT.
That said, we have to take exception to ABT’s continued dumbing down of the Prince’s variation. Doing the series of double saute de basques that open with the leg in arabesque as a diagonal line – as would be done in a classroom exercise – instead of doing them in a semi-circle which traces the semi-circle of the standing lady stars simply is not acceptable. It is such a step down in difficulty and five steps down in beauty. To then fail to end the variation with the double tours with soutenu that Anthony Dowell made so beautiful simply adds insult to injury.
On Monday night, Alex Hammoudi did two plain double tours in place and a double pirouette – a total sellout to both choreography and music. Last night Gorak executed pristine double tours with a pirouette between them, still so much easier and so less aesthetically pleasing than the soutenu. Seriously people, does anyone think that Dowell couldn’t throw in a pirouette between tours? Substituting a pirouette for a soutenu gives the passage a completely different look and completely different feel musically. It simply doesn’t make sense to dumb down what is so perfect. For instructional purposes, here are 26 seconds of Anthony Dowell:
The PdDs were exquisite. Those difficult passages where Cinderella’s back arabesque arm was brought forward over the top of the head were seamless and simply beautiful. Stella’s journey en pointe down the steps was flawless, and Joe’s lifts of her were strong and authoritative. There was a joyful chemistry between them. A supported pirouette went wayward, and a releve was dropped on that difficult maneuver when the torso turned to arabesque from the developpe a la seconde, but it was quickly recovered. Some uncertainty in the partnering resulted in ending positions not being strong musically, for example, the dive to supported penche arabesque was not sharp. But there is no denying that Joe and Stella make a gorgeous couple with complimentary lines and similar classical aesthetics. We can’t wait to see these blips smoothed out on Saturday.
Devon Teuscher gave a lovely, lovely performance as The Fairy Godmother with several exquisite moments. She’s not yet the caliber of Stella who danced the role last year or Veronika Part, but this relatively new soloist impressed with her purity of style and her unwillingness to add unnecessary spices to Ashton’s perfect recipe.
Sarah Lane’s Fairy Spring exploded with the color of tulips and the perfume of lilacs and hyacinths. It was the most perfect and joyous Spring variation that Haglund has ever seen. One of the hardest part’s of the Fairy Spring’s variation has to be that when she’s done with her high energy solo, she suddenly stops to stand on the side in a still pose for ten minutes while the other season fairies dance. Imagine if after running the Preakness, the horses were suddenly forced to stand perfectly still. It could not have been easy for Sarah or any of the Fairies Spring to manage that.
The Step-Sisters, Sean Stewart and Duncan Lyle, tried hard to steal the show and nearly did. Lyle’s hands-free swinging of the pearls around his neck was an especially fine display of talent. The problem with the Step-Sisters is that they’re not old men who are really having trouble dancing. They’re young men who can dance, whistle, and chew gum while juggling frying pans. Can’t ABT find some of its former dancers who are now old geezers to come in and do these roles like Ashton and Helpmann did – just for one cast, because we wouldn’t want to deny Sean and Duncan, or heaven forbid, Ken Easter and Tom Forster from their Tony-worthy performance opportunities.
Gabe Stone Shayer’s Jester was an uncooked performance, and at times, he looked like he didn’t want to be dancing the role. This character is where we most miss Luis Ribagorda who knocked it out of the ballpark with his brilliant dancing and full characterization last year. What a loss it was to Cinderella and much of the rest of ABT's repertoire when Luis walked out the door on his young legs.
The H.H. Pump Bump, a sparkling stiletto, goes to our newest Cinderella and our newest principal, Stella Abrera, with whom we're so looking forward to continuing her journey.
22 responses to “ABT’s Cinderella – 7/1 matinee”
I swear that I saw Abrera and Gorek in the ABT Cinderella last summer (2014), but you mention this was her role debut at ABT. Am I losing my mind? I remember being mightily impressed by Devon Teuscher as well, but somewhat underimpressed by Misty Copeland (whom I was very much looking forward to seeing for the time).
I swear that I saw Abrera and Gorek in the ABT Cinderella last summer (2014), but you mention this was her role debut at ABT. Am I losing my mind? I remember being mightily impressed by Devon Teuscher as well, but somewhat underimpressed by Misty Copeland (whom I was very much looking forward to seeing for the time).
I didn’t move a muscle during Stella’s performance on Wednesday afternoon. Just sat riveted. What a glorious dancer! What a gift we have been given, at last! Having been in the shadows of others for so long, it was as if, with her long overdue promotion in hand, she broke free of any constraints whatsoever and practically rewrote the ABT classical canon with technical and dramatic perfection that rose above almost every other principal dancer in the company. Those fiery go-for-broke circles of turns made my heart stop. I agree that she and Joey make the perfect couple and hope to see them paired again next season. (Although with ABT’s recent track record, the first thing they do when they see a perfect partnership is never to let the two dancers dance together ever again.)
I also saw the evening performance with Hee Seo and Cory Stearns, and I finally saw up close what people have been saying about Hee’s dramatic deficiencies. Yes, she has a beautiful classical line. However, please forgive the cliche, but her emotions ran the gamut from A to C: happy, sad, and wistful were about all I saw from my seat in Row A. I could see why people were screaming when she was given all those extra performances.
Skylar Brandt earned her stripes as Summer in the evening performance. That girl is going to move up fast! It was fascinating to see the four seasons in the evening performance: Skylar, Christine Shevchenko, and Melanie Hamrick all looking fluid and classical, and Misty Copeland looking as if she were dancing a different ballet (Firebird, perhaps?), all elbows and fingers and no upper body plastique.
Speaking of elbows, does Stella have any? Her port de bras are so fluid that her arms move without creating any angles whatsoever. What a gorgeous, gorgeous dancer, and may she reign supreme as the world’s leading Giselle, and may we see her soon in other ballets. R&J comes immediately to mind.
I didn’t move a muscle during Stella’s performance on Wednesday afternoon. Just sat riveted. What a glorious dancer! What a gift we have been given, at last! Having been in the shadows of others for so long, it was as if, with her long overdue promotion in hand, she broke free of any constraints whatsoever and practically rewrote the ABT classical canon with technical and dramatic perfection that rose above almost every other principal dancer in the company. Those fiery go-for-broke circles of turns made my heart stop. I agree that she and Joey make the perfect couple and hope to see them paired again next season. (Although with ABT’s recent track record, the first thing they do when they see a perfect partnership is never to let the two dancers dance together ever again.)
I also saw the evening performance with Hee Seo and Cory Stearns, and I finally saw up close what people have been saying about Hee’s dramatic deficiencies. Yes, she has a beautiful classical line. However, please forgive the cliche, but her emotions ran the gamut from A to C: happy, sad, and wistful were about all I saw from my seat in Row A. I could see why people were screaming when she was given all those extra performances.
Skylar Brandt earned her stripes as Summer in the evening performance. That girl is going to move up fast! It was fascinating to see the four seasons in the evening performance: Skylar, Christine Shevchenko, and Melanie Hamrick all looking fluid and classical, and Misty Copeland looking as if she were dancing a different ballet (Firebird, perhaps?), all elbows and fingers and no upper body plastique.
Speaking of elbows, does Stella have any? Her port de bras are so fluid that her arms move without creating any angles whatsoever. What a gorgeous, gorgeous dancer, and may she reign supreme as the world’s leading Giselle, and may we see her soon in other ballets. R&J comes immediately to mind.
It was a thrill for me to catch yesterday’s Cinderella matinee instead of waiting for Saturday’s show. Between the evocative Prokofiev score, which is one of my favorites, and Stella’s amazing, beautiful dancing, I was moved to tears through much of the performance. I was especially awed by her en pointe descent of the ballroom stairs; so light and ethereal, she seemed to float down like a cloud. She and Gorak looked great together, though she is a more experienced and finer dancer than he and allowed us to feel Cinderella’s every emotion, while he is still something of an emotional cipher. And what a great surprise to see Sarah Lane so buoyant and vivacious as the Fairy Spring! I missed that energy from her in Sleeping Beauty and still hope good things are in store for her in the future. Did you notice how quiet all the children in the audience were through all three acts? It had to be Stella’s magical dancing – she had us all spellbound!
It was a thrill for me to catch yesterday’s Cinderella matinee instead of waiting for Saturday’s show. Between the evocative Prokofiev score, which is one of my favorites, and Stella’s amazing, beautiful dancing, I was moved to tears through much of the performance. I was especially awed by her en pointe descent of the ballroom stairs; so light and ethereal, she seemed to float down like a cloud. She and Gorak looked great together, though she is a more experienced and finer dancer than he and allowed us to feel Cinderella’s every emotion, while he is still something of an emotional cipher. And what a great surprise to see Sarah Lane so buoyant and vivacious as the Fairy Spring! I missed that energy from her in Sleeping Beauty and still hope good things are in store for her in the future. Did you notice how quiet all the children in the audience were through all three acts? It had to be Stella’s magical dancing – she had us all spellbound!
Hi Kenneth Benson.
You may be remembering Stella as Cinderella in James Kudelka’s version which is another fine production (Art Deco 1930s). I hope ABT brings that one back within the next few years.
Hi Kenneth Benson.
You may be remembering Stella as Cinderella in James Kudelka’s version which is another fine production (Art Deco 1930s). I hope ABT brings that one back within the next few years.
Haglund, thanks for your comments about the ABT text of the Prince’s variation in Act II, and for the link to the clip of Dowell in it. Very interesting. However, having just watched another YouTube clip of a 2003 Royal performance with Kobborg and Cojocaru, I noticed that Kobborg dances the same text there as the one in the ABT production. Or so it seems to me. I agree with you: the sequence of steps that Dowell dances is far superior. What’s the explanation for the textual change? Could Ashton have had something to do with it?
I so agree with you about the cast at the Wed. matinee; gorgeous. Abrera, Gorak were wonderful, and Teuscher stole my heart in her variation, especially those double-helix twists, which were ravishing in their supple musicality. Still, I think some of the impact of that performance had to do with David La March’s conducting, which brought out the lyricism of the score in a way that the other ABT conductors don’t seem to want to do.
Gosh, I love this ballet more and more.
Haglund, thanks for your comments about the ABT text of the Prince’s variation in Act II, and for the link to the clip of Dowell in it. Very interesting. However, having just watched another YouTube clip of a 2003 Royal performance with Kobborg and Cojocaru, I noticed that Kobborg dances the same text there as the one in the ABT production. Or so it seems to me. I agree with you: the sequence of steps that Dowell dances is far superior. What’s the explanation for the textual change? Could Ashton have had something to do with it?
I so agree with you about the cast at the Wed. matinee; gorgeous. Abrera, Gorak were wonderful, and Teuscher stole my heart in her variation, especially those double-helix twists, which were ravishing in their supple musicality. Still, I think some of the impact of that performance had to do with David La March’s conducting, which brought out the lyricism of the score in a way that the other ABT conductors don’t seem to want to do.
Gosh, I love this ballet more and more.
BTW: I’m sure you were also there for Nunez last night. Another glorious performance. It was again Shayer as the Jester, and he seemed to me remarkably improved from his showing on Wed. Do you agree? Shouldn’t we cut him a bit of slack, especially given what seems to me his enormous improvement in just 36 hours? Isn’t this his first big role at ABT? I don’t remember seeing his name before this week.
BTW: I’m sure you were also there for Nunez last night. Another glorious performance. It was again Shayer as the Jester, and he seemed to me remarkably improved from his showing on Wed. Do you agree? Shouldn’t we cut him a bit of slack, especially given what seems to me his enormous improvement in just 36 hours? Isn’t this his first big role at ABT? I don’t remember seeing his name before this week.
Hi John. Yes, I’ve seen where Kobborg dumbs down the choreography as well. I imagine that it has to do with who now controls Ashton’s Cinderella. If Dowell had the responsibility (and honor) of maintaining this gem, we might see the standards a bit higher. Everything he touches seems to gleam its gold.
Totally agree with you about Shayer’s vast improvement last night, but he has quite a ways to go in this role.
Hi John. Yes, I’ve seen where Kobborg dumbs down the choreography as well. I imagine that it has to do with who now controls Ashton’s Cinderella. If Dowell had the responsibility (and honor) of maintaining this gem, we might see the standards a bit higher. Everything he touches seems to gleam its gold.
Totally agree with you about Shayer’s vast improvement last night, but he has quite a ways to go in this role.
Kenneth may also be thinking of Gorak’s Cinderellas last year with Xiomara Reyes.
Very interesting point about the pirouette replacing the soutenu. The pirouette may look more impressive to some, but it makes sense that the soutenu would in fact be more challenging, requiring greater control.
Very much looking forward to seeing this cast on Saturday — and really hope we get Sarah Lane again as Spring! I know that Gabe Stone Shayer tends to get a lot of praise, but personally I have not been particularly impressed by him this season. I’m hoping for Arron Scott as the Jester instead.
Kenneth may also be thinking of Gorak’s Cinderellas last year with Xiomara Reyes.
Very interesting point about the pirouette replacing the soutenu. The pirouette may look more impressive to some, but it makes sense that the soutenu would in fact be more challenging, requiring greater control.
Very much looking forward to seeing this cast on Saturday — and really hope we get Sarah Lane again as Spring! I know that Gabe Stone Shayer tends to get a lot of praise, but personally I have not been particularly impressed by him this season. I’m hoping for Arron Scott as the Jester instead.
Haglund,
Thanks for posting the incredible video of Anthony Dowell. I much prefer the soutenu, and agree with your assessment. The soutenu, while more beautiful, also makes one appreciate the tours more. Why would any choreographer or any dancer with ability want to eliminate the soutenu? So elegant.
The video you posted of Stella Abera in Giselle is beyond words for me. Beautiful. LOVE STELLA!! I am in ballet heaven watching Dowell and Abrera, and reading your blog.
Haglund,
Thanks for posting the incredible video of Anthony Dowell. I much prefer the soutenu, and agree with your assessment. The soutenu, while more beautiful, also makes one appreciate the tours more. Why would any choreographer or any dancer with ability want to eliminate the soutenu? So elegant.
The video you posted of Stella Abera in Giselle is beyond words for me. Beautiful. LOVE STELLA!! I am in ballet heaven watching Dowell and Abrera, and reading your blog.
Georgiann, you got me thinking – Stella and Anthony Dowell together – what might that have been like….
Georgiann, you got me thinking – Stella and Anthony Dowell together – what might that have been like….
That pairing, if Sir Anthony would still be able to dance, would be like the 4th of July. Fireworks! Though elegant and subtle in tone.
That pairing, if Sir Anthony would still be able to dance, would be like the 4th of July. Fireworks! Though elegant and subtle in tone.