Fairytale ballets are great for getting bums on seats. The modern formula? Make it different, but not too different. Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella, reimagined in-the-round for English National Ballet in 2019, adds narrative interventions and unconventional steps but the sweetly romantic result upends no one’s expectations of an enjoyably untaxing night at the ballet.
To his credit, Wheeldon has thought a lot about the source material, adding backstories for Cinderella (Erina Takahashi) and the prince (Francesco Gabriele Frola). At her mother’s graveside young Cinders dances playful steps underpinned with melancholy. The couple meet before the ball, the Prince disguised as a non-royal (a touch of Giselle there), a device meant to give depth to their relationship, yet despite the midnight curfew it comes without real drama or jeopardy.
