Prokofiev - Cinderella / Sibley, Dowell, Royal Ballet

Rating:
Summary: A Cinderella to Avoid
Review: This live performance from the venerable Covent Garden features wonderful dancing by the principals Sibley & Dowell, a little less coldness and stiffness by the latter would have been very welcome. Sibley delivers; she is a spectacular Cinderella. So why avoid this performance? The answer is that Prokofiev's magical classical ballet is ruined by the excessively self-indulgent circus-clown contributions of the step-sisters (very big-time ballet guys in drag who should have known better). I doubt if Prokofiev would have recognized his ballet, the flow of the piece is stopped dead in its tracks on several occaisions by the step-sisters' circus-clowning,(sorry, but I thought they were more strange than funny), they try to steal the show but ruin it instead. To make time for this
nonsense the piece has been cut, a bad idea. For a version of Cinderella where ballet is the main focus, not slap-stick, try the Bolshoi production. A not-yet-famous Maximova appears in the four seasons scene. Dancing and musical performance are on a consistently high and very inspired level, and the humorous scenes flow along naturally in the context of the greater work. The Bolshoi gets 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Great Production
Review: What I enjoyed most about this video is that it showcases Sibley and Dowell at the height of their balletic powers. Also there's Georgiana Parkinson as the Fairy Godmother and Ashton & Helpmann as the Sisters. Antoinette Sibley is gorgeous in this ballet !