Birmingham Royal Ballet's having a ball
Nov 19 2010 By Diane Parkes
Diane Parkes peeks behind the scenes at BRB’s epic new production of Cinderella.
I t has been more than two years in the making but next week the curtain rises on the world premiere of the new Birmingham Royal Ballet Cinderella.
With designs beginning in 2008, the first costumes being created eight months ago, rehearsals starting in the summer – the clock has been well and truly ticking. And with days to go, the work behind the scenes is now in overdrive.
Created by BRB director David Bintley together with designer John Macfarlane and set to Prokofiev’s score, Cinderella is an epic in many ways.
“This is a landmark production for us,” says David. “Just as Sir Peter Wright created The Nutcracker as a gift to the city when the company moved to Birmingham in 1990, this is our gift to the city to mark 20 years. This is our 20th anniversary year and this production is an ideal bookend to it.”
He is also hoping the show will compete with The Nutcracker, which remains one of BRB’s most popular works despite being 20 years old.
“We hope that Cinderella will be as successful as The Nutcracker and that it is enjoyed by as many families,” says David. “This company is about bringing new people into the theatre and to dance and one of the best ways to do that is to be continually producing new work.
“This piece is important for the company. It has been expensive and we hope it will become central to the company. It has been designed to take on tour as I am sure audiences in London and Salford will also want to see it.
“The commercial success matters to the company but the designer John Macfarlane and I wanted to create something beautiful, magical and spectacular and I feel we have done that.”
It may be Cinderella at Christmas time but this is no pantomime.
“Fairy stories are based in real experience and they do have a dark side,” says David. “That is what has always fascinated me about them.
“With Cinderella we have to remember that the story is about a girl whose mother died when she was very young and has been farmed out to her step mother. She is an orphan who is looking for love in her life.
“So it does need a lot of realism in the story. Certainly at the beginning this is very realistic although it does become fantastical later on.”
And he steers well clear of the usual sources of humour.
“My Ugly Sisters are not danced by men as that can give the story a level of grotesquerie,” he says. “They are still funny but they are not just a collection of gags. This isn’t pantomime.”
The wicked stepmother, played by ballet mistress Marion Tait, is also no cardboard cut out of evil.
“She is not an obvious villain,” says Marion. “She is very quiet. But she is also very determined. She wants the very best for her daughters.
“In that she is very realistic but she does also have some comedic scenes. David was insistent he wanted her to be tall so I have these huge platform shoes and an amazing costume. I am wearing black at the beginning and then it is puce pink for the second act. My role is not a dancing role, it is all about body language. It is a presence.”
With the opening of the ballet so close Marion says there is a real air of excitement in the company.
