For 10 wonderful days, Birmingham Royal Ballet transported their audiences, at Birmingham Hippodrome, to the most fabulous fairy tale world of Cinderella.
Ballet appears to be becoming a bit of a little tradition for this time of year. Last year, Mum and I went to Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty (stunning) and, this year, we continued the fairy tale theme with Cinderella. I am not going to claim to be a expert in dance – I did ballet when I was younger, but the skill of these dancers was unbelievable. As beautiful as the costumes are (and they were) and as majestic as the sets are (and they really were), it was down to the dancers and the wonderful choreography to tell the story. The music offers a beautiful narration, but it really is the elegant movements of the those on the stage that truly brings the story to life.
You feel every emotion that Cinderella portrays, from her early tragic story to her happy ending. The ‘Ugly Sisters’ make you love them with the ‘elegant’ comedy they portray (I did wonder if it is harder for one to keep up the flat-footed movements of her character when she must be so used to being completely elegant and delicate). And Prince Charming, well, the strength in his dancing was amazing. When he lifted Cinderella with a stunning one-arm lift, the audience went wild (or as wild as an audience at the ballet dares to be).
However, despite the character name checks, the production would not have been as amazing as it was without the whole company. Every dancer on the stage made ‘Cinderella’ the stunning production that it was. As did the orchestra (I have always slightly envied those who play an instrument) who performed with such skill.
This production simply left me wishing that I could go to the ballet every week. It was beautiful!