A newly designed production celebrates the 75th anniversary of Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella, sprinkling some fairy dust on what was Britain’s first three-act ballet. It’s a combination of 19th-century classicism with Ashton’s delightfully playful, tricksy footwork, and the broad comedy of the pantomime dame in the shape of the ugly sisters. Whether that mix is entirely successful remains moot, along with whether the story has enough emotional heft to sustain three acts, although this one warms up and gets better as it goes along.
On opening night, Marianela Nuñez plays Cinders, a girl given to beatific smiles even when engaged in servitude, so good-hearted and pure is she. When she arrives at the ball, she is immediately a ballerina – she makes an amazing entrance, slow descent on pointe down the steps, time suspended. There is not a huge sense of character until the end, in her shy delight at realising her life is about to change.
