Pacific Northwest Ballet Completes My Cinderella Season

Fairy tales, by definition, are timeless. And yet they also seem to have their moments. This year, Cinderella seems to be having hers. I’m not sure what it is about Cinderella that makes it more important to people right now than Snow White or Sleeping Beauty. But I have seen three different adaptations of Cinderella this season across three different art forms. The Cinderella season concluded for me last weekend at opening night of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Cinderella by Kent Stowell.

Three Cinderellas

In fairy tales, the eldest of three is doomed to fail first and worst, but in art each variation has the opportunity to stand on its own. My Cinderella season started with Seattle Opera’s production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola. Compared to the version I saw in 2013, which was frothy and funny all the way through, this production directed by Lindy Hume focused on Cinderella’s moral character, which ultimately has as much to do with overcoming her circumstances as her makeover does.

The second Cinderella this season was the K-drama Cinderella with Four Knights. It’s actually from a couple seasons ago, but I only got access to it this winter. In this version, which crosses the fairy tale with an otome-style harem comedy, Cinderella resolutely refuses to be made over. Even after two different shopping trips, she remains in sweats most of the time. And even surrounded by ulzzang, she never wavers from her strong Korean values. (She does stop solving problems with judo, though, which made me sad). Once again, the focus is on Cinderella’s moral character.

The final Cinderella, as I have said, was Kent Stowell’s Cinderella for Pacific Northwest Ballet.

Kent Stowell’s Cinderella

There are actually two Cinderellas in the PNB repertory. Almost exactly three years ago, they presented Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Cendrillon. That one was bold and modern and often ugly in its exploration of grief and unhealthy relationships. It’s exactly the sort of thing I adore in ballet. But Kent Stowell’s 1994 Cinderella is a classic fairy tale, as symmetrical and sweet as wedding cake. Cinderella herself is still sweet and kind, but this Cinderella doesn’t explore much of anything except wish fulfillment and some pretty dancing.

The costumes are beautiful. The sets are exquisite. There is a proscenium clock that acts up at the critical moment, a horse-drawn carriage that whisks Cinderella away to the ball, and beautiful old-fashioned painted backdrops that almost make you feel you’re in a fairy tale yourself.

Like most of Stowell’s choreography, Cinderella exhibits classical technique that privileges prettiness over innovation. His knack for storytelling sometimes stalls the momentum; dancers spend a lot of time standing around or sedately striding across the stage. The trade off is that you often get character insights and moments of genuine emotion that would be lost in the whirlwind of more exciting choreography. And sometimes it results in delightfully clever moments like a dozen dancing couples turning into a giant clock that counts off the chimes at midnight.  

Academic Considerations

I’ve heard the OG ballet choreographer Petipa described as “academic” because so much of his choreography was basically just drills. Dancers move through a series of steps, showing each one from each important angle before moving on to something else. In a way, I think of Stowell as an academic choreographer, too, albeit a much more interesting one to watch for people who aren’t technique nerds.

Stowell was artistic director of PNB when he was choreographing, which means he was also responsible for the PNB School. And when I watch his ballets, I’m always reminded of that. Teaching methods have moved on from drills to more interesting exercises. Ballets like Cinderella often feel like recitals, where dancers at every level get a chance to show off what they can do. There are elegant pas de deux for the principals; some nearly acrobatic solos (in Cinderella, the harlequin really gets a chance to shine) and a couple of character roles (the evil stepsisters are a rare comedic opportunity for female dancers); lots of Balanchine-like ensemble pieces that look best from high up where the dancers are like pieces shifting in a kaleidoscope.

And there are children. Everyone always loves the little roles for children. How can you resist little dancing pumpkins and winged bugs doing burpees, flitting around Cinderella as she gets ready for the party, and glumly trudging through the garden when she flees home? You can’t. They are irresistible.  

But there’s more to it than that. The day after I watched Cinderella, I interviewed the music director of the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra for work. And he talked about bringing younger kids to perform with the older ones, how the older performers become mentors to the younger ones, and how, when they return to their own programs, those younger ones become mentors to their peers. And I realized that in his choreography, Stowell was a true academic, always thinking about the next generation of dancers in addition to the story he was trying to tell.

The Performance

This time around, there will ten performances of Cinderella, and five different couples performing in the lead roles. For those with the time and money to attend more than once, a traditional ballet like this is a wonderful opportunity to observe the unique qualities each dancer brings to a role.

In his program notes, artistic director Peter Boal commented that Cinderella feels timely to him because it’s about gatekeepers and inclusion – who gets to go to the ball. That’s a fresh interpretation and I like it better than the more familiar themes of a girl who needs need saving, wealth equating with success, and marriage, even to a stranger, always equal to a happy ending.

But feel free to take it or leave it. Sometimes the best art is timely and significant. And sometimes you just want to watch a ballerina spin like a music box figurine under a cascade of glitter.  

CINDERELLA Details

Music: Sergei Prokofiev*
Choreography: Kent Stowell
Staging: Kent Stowell, Francia Russell and Kaori Nakamura
Scenic Design: Tony Straiges
Costume Design: Martin Pakledinaz
Lighting Design: Randall G. Chiarelli
Premiere: May 31, 1994; Pacific Northwest Ballet

Running Time: Two hours and 30 minutes

*Music details: Cinderella, Op. 87, 1940-1944, with excerpts from incidental music to Eugene Onegin [March, Scherzo, Prince and Princess], Op. 71, 1936; Lermontov film score [Mephisto Waltz], 1941-1942; A Summer’s Day Suite [Waltz], Op. 65, 1935-1941; Symphony No. 1 in D Major “Classical” [Gavotte], Op. 25, 1916-1917; The Tale of the Stone Flower [Waltz], Op. 118, 1948-1953; The Love for Three Oranges: Symphonic Suite, Op. 33bis, 1919/1924

Cast I Saw

Cinderella
Noelani Pantastico

Prince
Seth Orza

Godmother
Laura Tisserand

Stepmother
Elle Macy*

Father
William Lin-Yee

Stepsisters
Nancy Casciano*
Abby Jayne DeAngelo*

Memory Mother & Father
Laura Tisserand
Joshua Grant

Fairies
Spring
Angelica Generosa*

Summer
Elizabeth Murphy

Fall
Margaret Mullin

Winter
Leah Merchant*

Jester
Benjamin Griffiths

Theatre of Marvels
Evil Sprite
Kyle Davis*

Good Fairy
Laura Tisserand

Harlequin
Price Suddarth*

Columbine
Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan*

{I attended Cinderella courtesy of PNB. The tickets were theirs; the opinions, as always, are entirely my own.}