Cinderella Glass Slipper

'Cinderella': A glass-slipper kickoff to PNB's 40th season

31.12.69

Dance review |

When a guest shows up too often, his or her charms may fade just a bit. That may be the case with Pacific Northwest Ballet's "Cinderella," back on stage only a year and a half since its last outing. Friday's opening-night performance, which kicked off the company's 40th anniversary season, was well cast, wonderfully danced and beautifully designed — it just felt a little familiar. The audience response was warm but subdued (no standing ovation), for a ballet that's charming rather than dazzling.

Choreographed by Kent Stowell in 1994, "Cinderella" is a quiet, gentle ballet, set to a shimmering score by Sergei Prokofiev and given glorious color in Tony Straiges' sets and, especially, Martin Pakledinaz's rainbow of costumes, all of which seem to create their own light. (This production of "Cinderella" is dedicated to the memory of Pakledinaz, who died earlier this year.) Though there are passages that haven't held up well — the comic scenes with the stepsisters, for example, don't give the dancers enough to do and feel long — the costumes are always a joy, particularly the misty blue-green tutus of the corps de ballet in Act I, the charmingly pastoral ensembles (complete with antennae) worn by the bugs, and the vivid red-velvet swirl of the guests at the ball.

Source: The Seattle Times