If Grace Kelly had been a ballerina in the last two decades, she would have ended up at Pacific Northwest Ballet. Such a plethora of coolly elegant blondes have danced through the company’s history that it becomes dangerously easy to overlook a few.
But corps member Lesley Rausch moved into the center spotlight, dancing the girl in the ashes for the opening night of Cinderella. A graceful lead, she seemed like the sort of girl any royal family would be ready to embrace: gracious even to those without manners (her nifty nasty stepmother, wickedly played by Ariana Lallone) and kind even to those should have been better (her bullied father portrayed by Uko Gorter).
Because of the physical demands placed upon the dancers, the line-up for any ballet changes nightly, and artistic director Peter Boal used this fairytale to give a number of corps members and soloists a chance to shine as well as switching around roles with principals.
Through the grace of a friend, who lost her seat companion at the last minute on Sunday (Feb. 13), I also caught the performance of soloist Rachel Foster in the title role. Like Rausch, Foster’s Cinderella was slightly subdued – perhaps because choreographer Kent Stowell created a girl as heavily haunted by her past as caught up in the romance of her prince.
While the fabulous swirl of Martin Pakledinaz’s big costumes (“what is that shade of red?” breathed my Sunday companion as the gold-tinged crimson dresses filled the ballroom scene) remained the same, seeing two performances lent itself to catching subtle differences between interpretations of the characters.
Principal Jeffrey Stanton’s opening night Prince suffered from mild ennui at his ball until the lovely Cinderella appeared on his palace stairs, and then he often seemed overcome with noble shyness when trying to attract the girl. Meanwhile principal Lucian Postlewaite created a starry-eyed dreamer ready to jump for joy when the right pair of twinkling shoes danced into his life.
Principal dancer Carrie Imler’s fairy godmother stepped straight out of a Fragonard painting, a rocco spirit of nobility on opening night. In contrast, corps member Kylee Kitchens’ Godmother had the maternal sweetness of Disney’s Blue Fairy.
Nobody does the Jester roles better than principal Jonathan Porretta, whose leaps and megawatt smiles earned him huge applause on opening night. But soloist Benjamin Griffiths brings his own boyish charm to the cap-and-bells, and inspired just as big giggles from the little girls sitting in my row.
Soloists Lindsi Dec and Chalnessa Eames moved effortlessly from silly antics of the wicked stepsisters on opening night to embodiments of Spring (Eames) and Autumn (Dec). Meanwhile corps members Jessika Anspach and Abby Relic did exactly what the corps is supposed to do on opening night: provide a stunning ensemble to support the drama of the main characters. Then they stepped into the big shoes of the stepsister to show off their own comedic chops.
Meanwhile, principal Olivier Wevers played a supercilious Dancing Master on opening night, despising those clumsy stepsisters and snatching up his fees on opening night. In contrast, corps member Andrew Bartee practically fainted in horror in the same scene, using his mobile features to highly comic effect.
And that’s just a few of dancers filling the stage in this beloved retelling of the girl who finally found her true heart. As Postlewaite and Foster twirled sweetly under the glittering shower of fairy dust, the lady in front of me sighed and said “Oh, I hope that they don’t wait another nine years to bring this back.”
While clock has finally struck midnight for this successful run at McCaw, all these dancers will be back soon. PNB still has two big story ballets coming in their season: Midsummer’s Night Dream (with sets and costumes by Cinderella’s Pakledinaz) and the company’s first Giselle. And for those who wish that they’d get back to the new stuff: Contemporary 4 opens March 18.
Comments