National Ballet’s latest Cinderella a perfectly sweet revival of Kudelka masterpiece

Cinderella

National Ballet of Canada. Choreographed by James Kudelka. At the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, until March 19. national.ballet.ca or 1-866-345-9595

How do you like your fairy tales; sickly sweet or with a thin slice of lemon?

When it comes to theatrical renderings of the millennia-old, archetypal, rags-to-riches Cinderella story, the former seems to be the prevalent taste, unless you are Canadian choreographer James Kudelka. His inventive, contemporary reimagining of the time-honoured tale has one foot in fairyland but an even firmer one in a world that is recognizably real.

Kudelka made his three-act version for the National Ballet of Canada in 2004, during his nine-year tenure as artistic director. It was an immediate hit and quickly repaid its roughly million-dollar cost. Now, in its fifth revival, Kudelka’s “Cinderella”, featuring a host of exciting debuts and guest appearances — and a few farewells — is back in time to delight spring-break family audiences.

Last December principal dancer Genevieve Penn Nabity and corps de ballet member Larkin Miller made unanticipated opening-night debuts as the leads in Kudelka’s version of “The Nutcracker”, replacing, due to injury, the previously announced cast. It was immediately clear that they are a match made in ballet heaven. It’s therefore not so surprising that Kudelka chose them as the leads in “Cinderella”, according them the honour of Friday night’s opening.

One can imagine that making major debuts under such an intense spotlight might be a little unnerving for two young dancers but you’d never guess it from Nabity and Larkin’s rapturously confident performances. Were it not for the hilarious antics of veteran ballerina guest artist Evelyn Hart as a debuting, peignoir-wrapped, booze-swilling stepmother and seasoned first soloist Tanya Howard and second soloist Brenna Flaherty — yet another role debut — as Cinderella’s silly stepsisters, Nabity and Larkin might have stolen the show entirely.

The word ballerina tends to be thrown around too loosely nowadays as a synonym for dancer, but Genevieve Penn Nabity is the real McCoy. She has grace, poise, personality and technique to spare. She makes music visible.

Nabity has already proved herself in the daunting dual “Swan Lake” Odette/Odile lead role. In “The Nutcracker”, she sparkled magically as the Sugar Plum Fairy. Now, as Cinderella, Nabity reveals a dramatic flair and emotional range that brings her character vividly to life. She is no longer a star in the making. She’s made it.

Larkin Miller fits the ballet prince mould perfectly. He’s tall, handsome, tastefully virile and attentive to a partner’s needs. You sometimes have to wonder if Kudelka likes tempting fate when it comes to the difficult lifts and direction changes he builds in to his pas deux. His “Cinderella” duet work is a like a ballet minefield but Larkin made the lifts if not always effortless at least not scary to watch. How long must he wait for a well-earned promotion?

Designer David Boechler sets Kudelka’s “Cinderella” in the 1920s, all flappers and Art Deco. Unlike other versions in which the heroine’s widower father survives to be bullied by a new wife, Kudelka’s Cinderella is a fully-fledged orphan. Her socially climbing stepmother and stepsisters are not so much oppressively vicious as so self-involved they dismiss Cinderella’s efforts to keep the house in order. She finds comfort by a glowing hearth and in her beloved vegetable garden while dreaming of the perfect romance.

Up at the local palace, the ranking royal also dreams of finding a woman he can truly love. With the indispensable aid of a Fairy Godmother, Cinderella arrives spectacularly at the young prince’s ball. Does anyone not know where it goes from there?

Yes, it’s the search for the foot that fits the abandoned slipper, a quest that in Kudelka’s version takes the prince and his entourage on a round-the-world journey, using up all of composer Sergei Prokofiev’s “travelling” music in the process. In keeping with today’s heightened sensitivities, Kudelka has modified one of the prince’s more problematic “does the shoe fit?” encounters.

When the couple is finally reunited in Cinderella’s kitchen the prince does not whisk her off to the palace for a lavish wedding and life of purposeless luxury. He’s quite content to sit by the hearth with his head on his beloved’s lap. Whether the prince totally renounces his royal status — in Kudelka’s there is no “spare” sibling — is a matter left for us to decide.

The current 12-performance run of “Cinderella” is already heavily sold, reflecting the durability of Kudelka’s homegrown version, but it could be a long wait before we see it again.

Before the arrival of Hope Muir as artistic director in January 2022, the National Ballet entered an agreement with the Royal Ballet in London to share the cost of a new production of a 75-year-old version of “Cinderella” choreographed for that company by Frederick Ashton. If the pandemic had not come along, we might have been seeing this redecorated production here now, instead of the one Kudelka tailor-made for the National Ballet 19 years ago.

Since, in truth, “Cinderella”, much like “The Nutcracker” and “Swan Lake”, more or less sells itself because of title recognition, one is tempted to ask why we need a new production. After all, the National Ballet is still fielding more than 50-year-old, albeit refurbished productions of “Giselle” and “The Sleeping Beauty.”

As it happens, Muir has emerged as a firm admirer of James Kudelka, seeing his choreographic legacy as part of the National Ballet’s DNA. As Muir makes abundantly clear in the house program, she adores his “Cinderella.”

Evelyn Hart shared that she considers Kudelka’s “Cinderella” among the best she’s seen. She is not alone. News that Ashton’s version would be coming to Toronto was not greeted with universal jubilation among the dancers.

It is highly unusual for a company to keep two major productions of a ballet with the same title in the active repertoire yet the official company line now is that in the future the Canadian-made Kudelka version will “rotate” with the refitted British one. We’ll see how that goes.

In the most ideal circumstances, given that even strong-sellers such as “Cinderella” tend to be programmed every three to four years, it could be at least the end of the decade before Kudelka’s is seen again. Probably a good reason to catch it before it’s too late.

Notably, the company will celebrate on stage the long careers of soon-to-retire artists Tanya Howard and Rebekah Rimsay on March 12 and 19 respectively.

SHARE: