If the shoe fits... (ABT's Cinderella)

In Four Words: Great Dancing--Underwhelming choreography.

I saw the company premiere of James Kudelka's Cinderella at American Ballet Theatre tonight (technically, last night).

Julie Kent and Marcelo Gomes were wonderful. Kent was radiant in the role despite her drab attire, and Gomes was spot on tonight--he soared in his leaps and his turns were a-mahz-ing. I also enjoyed the stepsisters. The "glamorous" stepsister was played by Carmen Corella while the myopic sister was portrayed by Erica Cornejo, who has a great flair for comedy. They played well off one another.

The production is set in the 1920s with Art Deco sets and costumes (designed by David Boechler), which I liked, except for Cinderella's ball gown, which was a variation of Cinderella's burlap-sack-inspired dress from the first act. The color did make Cinderella stand out from the other guests. She was in light brown while the other guests were in black. I think I understand the concept behind Cinderella's ball gown, but I don't think it was the strongest possible choice. I also didn't care for Cinderella's wedding dress. The cut and design were fine, but the fabric was hideous.

The Kitchen
I liked the first act until the garden scene where the "creatures of the garden," Blossom, Petal, Moss and Twig danced their variations instead of the usual fairies, of the seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. I really don't care what you call these characters, but give them something to do! The choreography for the aforementioned "creatures of the garden" left me completely underwhelmed, which is a shame, to say the least, because these creatures were danced by Misty Copeland, Maria Riccetto, Stella Abrera and Veronika Part.

I did like the choreography for the clock, which was danced by pumpkins, or rather, men in pumpkin heads.

At the Ball
I liked the costumes at the Prince's ball, but some of the numbers with the corps looked cluttered, and I wasn't sure whether this was due to the choreography or spacing of the dancers on the stage. For example, early on in the scene before all the guests appear at the ball, there were four couples dancing. The other guests appeared upstage and then proceeded to clump together, which just looked bizarre. Another strange bit occurred once while the stepsisters were dancing downstage, in front of the waltzing ensemble, but the ensemble actually looked more interesting than the business the sisters were doing. It struck me as odd. I did like Cinderella and the Prince's pas de deux at the Ball. I thought this was some of Kudelka's best work. The lifts and various transitions were fascinating and wonderfully executed by Kent and Gomes.

The Search
The last act, entitled The Search was definitely my favorite. Does Kudelka create better choreography for men than women? It would seem so. I found the choreography for the Prince and his Four Officers, Jared Matthews, Jesus Pastor, Sascha Radetsky and Gennadi Saveliev, the most engaging and inspired parts of the evening. Their worldwide search was very funny.

I especially liked the ending where the Prince chased away the photographer who was attempting to take a picture of the Prince and his new bride by the hearth in their home.