Cinderella’s Prince Shines in Ballet Performance

Photo courtesy of Lia Kapelke, Flickr

A prestigious dance group performed at the Sharp Theater last Saturday, when the New York Ballet Company performed its rendition of the popular fairy tale Cinderella.

The curtain rose on a young, skinny Cinderella dressed in pink rags resembling a nightgown of today. Cinderella’s wicked stepsisters soon followed in yellow and orange dresses. Surprisingly, no tutus were on display in these opening scenes of the performance. However, the dancers’ lack of traditional ballet attire did not hinder their movement: the stepsisters were able to dance perfectly in their large, flamboyant gowns.

Soon, Cinderella’s infamous stepmother and other characters are introduced, as the stepsisters prepared for the ball. The lack of dialogue caused confusion early on, although this passed as the show went on and the ballet’s method of storytelling became familiar. While the stepsisters get dressed into crazy comical outfits that equally matched their purposefully amusing dancing, Cinderella longs to go to the ball. She dances around the stage with a broom, stopping only when her fairy godmother appears in rags. The fairy, casting off her disguise to reveal her true form in a shiny purple traditional ballet tutu, gestured with a tiara and wand as more ballerinas leapt on stage and danced around her as she got Cinderella ready for the ball. Once at the long-awaited dance, Cinderella stuns – her dance with the prince was graceful, perfectly in sync and was mesmerizing to watch.

The best dancer of all, however, was the prince himself: he was amazing to watch and quick on his feet. As a nice family event, the ballet was equally comical and beautiful.

gtesta@ramapo.edu