Dance
Cinderella
Festival Theatre, Edinburgh
Mary Brennan
five stars
ROSES colour every aspect of Christopher Hampson’s heartfelt Cinderella, first performed by Scottish Ballet in 2015. There are the dusty pinks of ballroom costumes, the whisper-soft hues worn by the Fairy Godmother and her attendants – even the moon that overlooks the art nouveau traceries of designer Tracy Grant Lord’s flowering tree is composed of rose petals.
It looks exquisite but the rose, here, is also emblematic of abiding love: Cinderella’s refuge – the rose garden – echoes her late mother and holds the cherishing magic that transforms her future.
Is the Fairy Godmother (Araminta Wraith) really an elegantly ethereal manifestation of that mother’s spirit? Do the insects – led by the merrily springy Grasshopper (Jamiel Laurence) – help to rescue Cinderella because her cruel treatment at home is an offence against nature?
Hampson’s treatment of the evergreen story has similarly reflective depths woven into choreography that balances wistful pathos with rambunctious comedy and brings them together with impressive narrative clarity.
We immediately feel for Cinders (Sophie Martin) as she dreams of escaping from a drab, dark kitchen.That royal ball might be a fleeting respite, but the memories will brighten the loneliness that Martin expresses with such nuanced poignancy.
However no-one in this household seems happy, and this surfaces during preparations for the ball where the Stepsisters’ bad behaviour cleverly morphs into a comedic tour de force.
While Tall (Grace Horler) has a distinctly vindictive streak, the wonderfully lackadaisical Short (Kayla-Maree Tarantola) is a softer soul who – after they have made hilariously gawky fools of themselves at the ball – might have her own happy ending.
Meanwhile, the pas-de-deux that bring Cinders and her Prince (an attractively athletic Barnaby Rook-Bishop) together become a journey of increasing trust, with the soaring high lifts and secure mid-air catches a reassuring sign of the steadfast love to come. Prokofiev’s music, played live by the Scottish Ballet Orchestra, is – like the dancing throughout – a Christmas treat to treasure.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here