Well my wish was answered! This was the most gaffe-prone performance I have ever been to. Granted it's not much over the course of 1.5 hours but given the high level of talent of professional dancers, it was noticeable. There were 3 props malfunctions. Early on, as the faeries disappear into the chimney, their trailing silk carpet got caught on one side of the chimney. Cinderella had to discretely release the prop. Later, during their world tour to find the slipper's owners, the prince's companions threw some roses off-stage. A few minutes later, during an entrance, a dancer kicked one of the rose back on stage. It was up to the prince to boot the rose off-stage again during one of his kicks (a nice bit of quick thinking). Finally at the wedding scene, Cinderella's bridal veil fell off during one of her bow. Once again, the prince had to casually pick it up and returned it to her.
On top of that, there were also 3 major physical gaffes. At the end of a series of leaps, one of the prince's companions fell. He didn't land on his butt, of course, but he came down on one knee and both hands slapped down on the floor. Later, I'm not sure if it was the same dancer, but during some spins and leaps, a prince's companion knocked over a chair. Given that it was the only prop on stage, and positioned at the front, you bet people noticed. Finally at the beginning of the second pas de deux between Cinderella and Prince Charming, there was 2 set of slow leg lifts while they were clasping hands. Well, Zdenek was slightly wobbly on the 1st set, but he definitely bailed out on the 2nd set without achieving full leg extension.
Minor errors aside, how did I find the show? I'm a bit ambivalent about it. There were some wonderful set pieces. The second pas de deux was wonderful. Kudelka's decision to keep Cinderella bare-footed for some scenes, being a poor girl and all, gave rise to some great choreography. When Cinderella got her ballet slippers and was able to go up en pointe was a beautiful moment. I particularly enjoyed her solo when she was back in her kitchen with only one slipper. Her en pointe turns and pirouettes on the slippered foot provided a great contrast to her dance movements when she switched over to the bare foot. Finally, the dancing provided by the Stepsister and especially the Other Stepsister was hilariously. Being gauche, unsophisticated social climbers, their dancing was sometimes comic, sometimes over the top, always "amateurish". Rebekah Rimsay as the Other Stepsister got a bigger cheer than Cinderella and the Prince. Though some of it was probably for the 20th anniversary of her National Ballet career, her comedic timing did upstage the main couple.
On the negative side, I didn't think there was enough time devoted to the pairing of Cinderella and the Prince. I suppose some of it is the material; they only know each other over the course of 1 ball. Nevertheless, I didn't have much emotional involvement in their relationship. The choreography, especially for the corps, was a bit odd too. Given that the setting is in the 20s-30s, it doesn't have the classic style with tutus and tights. Yet it lacks the modern athleticism of contemporary dance. It would probably take a few more performances for this to grow on me. Given that this is the 4th mounting in 6 years, the National Ballet will probably put it on again in 2-3 years. I'll probably appreciate it more the 2nd time around. Ultimately, I think it's mostly the music. Prokofiev's score simply did not work for me. And unfortunately, I don't think I will ever grow to like this piece.
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