Funky fairy tale

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This article was published 19/02/2016 (3560 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For generations, the rags-to-riches tale of the poor cinder girl who gets swept off her feet by a dashing Prince Charming has enthralled children of all ages, with countless versions told worldwide including various stage, screen and opera guises.

However, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s snazzy balletic version, Val Caniparoli’s A Cinderella Story, which opened Wednesday night, might swing the hardest, showing as much sass and class as when the RWB-commissioned work first premièred in November 2006.

Last staged here in April 2010, the stylized, jazzy, fairy-tale ballet set in 1957 tells the tale of nerdy, bespectacled Nancy, who dreams of finding her prince — in this case, hunky ballroom dancer Bob.

With her faithful Dog (played by Yosuke Mino) by her side, she’s glued to her television set, which, in between commercials extolling the virtues of Desert Flower hand cream, announces an upcoming live broadcast of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. After being tormented by her evil stepbrother and stepsisters, Nancy eventually meets and tangoes with Bob at the winter dance, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Principal dancer Sophia Lee brings a natural elegance to the Audrey Hepburn-inspired role of Nancy; her fluid movement is always lyrical and graceful. She’s able to get down and funky, though Lee appeared more balletic than grounded during her first major solo. Her fine acting skills ensured she made a radiant entrance — twice — by elevator into the glittering Starlight Ballroom. They also served her well during the ballet’s darkest moment, when she crumpled onstage after receiving news that her beloved father (Liam Caines) had perished in a plane crash.

Her (mostly) torrid tango with Bob at the dance created real intimacy, as did their final glorious Act II pas de deux under a luminous blue moon. Lee is also a natural comic — her awkward attempts at ballroom steps and grooves at the Arthur Murray dance studio had many in stitches.

One of the company’s newest members, second soloist Josh Reynolds, created a confidently swaggering Bob, using his own matinée-idol looks and his ability to seamlessly morph between Caniparoli’s classical and jazz choreography, including hand jives and pelvis-thrusting Latin moves.

Principal dancer Liang Xing portrayed a stiff-backed butler who later transformed into a waddling penguin in a long-tailed tuxedo during Act I’s fantastical garden scene. Both the versatile dancer’s bravura solos, still classically based, were flawlessly executed, teeming with the pure joy of movement. His hotdogging on the sidelines during the garden scene, where he really cut loose — as well as during the show’s curtain call — were another highlight.

Principal dancer Jo-Ann Sundermeier performed the first of her dual roles as the Arthur Murray dance teacher with laser-like intensity, clapping her hands and demanding the same precision she is able to demonstrate. She then appeared as Cinderella’s funky Fairy Godmother, driving the show’s narrative with a wave of her magic wand and swivel of her hips.

Soloist Sarah Davey also shone as Cinderella’s haughty stepmother, plotting to poison Dog while lording power over her hapless ward. As squabbling stepsisters with bouncing ponytails, Alanna McAdie and Katie Bonnell taunted and teased; they were particularly hilarious during the show’s penultimate scene, in which the women all appear in Nancy-like party dresses to fool Bob.

Soloist Mino has firmly taken the Dog role by the tail, infusing his own larger-than-life personality and, ironically, a sense of humanity as Cinderella’s only friend. He also dazzles during his fur-raising solo, where he bounds across the stage, shimmying and shaking, before finally escaping the clutches of the Dogcatcher.

The corps de ballet clearly loves this work, performing as maids, servants, dance students and ballroom guests, as well as the menagerie of animal roles, including the skunk, flamingo, beaver and peacock who build the coach — in this case, a ‘57 Chevy — that whisks Cinderella to the dance.

There’s a bit too much stage business at times (that car takes a while to create), and during Lee and Reynolds’ final pas de deux, the stark contrast of the black curtain backdrop — after being steeped in Sandra Woodall’s glorious vintage couture costumes and mid-century set design lit by Alexander Nichols — is unsettling. What essentially becomes a dance jam session with the animals doesn’t advance the narrative and feels overly long.

Ten years after its première, Val Caniparoli’s A Cinderella Story continues to entertain as a clever take on a classic tale. But if you need one more reason to see the 135-minute production, it must surely be Winnipeg jazz king Ron Paley’s brilliant, textural score, featuring his own orchestrations/arrangements of Richard Rodgers numbers. They’re performed live by his 20-piece big band and his vocals are still effervescent and brighter than a neon billboard.

holly.harris@shaw.ca