BalletMet gives ‘Cinderella’ fairy tale new life

Nina Budeiri
Tue, 24 Mar 2015 01:34:30 +0000
Campus, balletmet, capitol theatre, cinderella, edwaard liang, sergei prokofiev

BalletMet will be performing “Cinderella” Thursday through Sunday at the Capitol Theatre.
Credit: Courtesy of Zaire Kacz

BalletMet aims to transform evenings this week from rags to riches with their spring production of “Cinderella.”

The ballet tells the classic story of a young girl who overcame her father’s death and her wicked stepmother’s torment to marry a prince, with help from a fairy godmother.

Set to Sergei Prokofiev’s original 1944 score, the performance debuts Jessica Brown and Michael Sayre in their first career lead roles as Cinderella and Prince Charming.

Both are one of four to play their respective roles. Brown and Sayre will debut this week during the Friday and Saturday evening performances.

“I’ve danced in Cinderella before, but this is my first time getting to actually dance as her. I wasn’t sure what part I was going to get, but I was so excited the day I found out,” Brown said.

Sayre, who only had experience dancing to Cinderella while in training five years ago, said he was more than ready to become Prince Charming.

“This one is big. I’ve never performed a role this big, but we’ve been practicing so much and I feel extremely prepared,” he said.

To prepare for the production, Sayre said the dancers had a daily schedule for four weeks that involved morning warm-up ballet classes and six hours of rehearsal.

Although “Cinderella” is considered a fairy tale, Brown said BalletMet’s performance isn’t completely classic or whimsical. The performance is an original production by choreographer Edwaard Liang.

“It’s almost neoclassical,” she said, “It’s classically based, and we didn’t change the story, just some of the aspects may be a little different from what audiences may be expecting.”

BalletMet communications manager Ann Mulvany said reception of the show has been so strong that there were requests to add another performance to the schedule.

Performances began Friday and continue Thursday through Sunday at the Capitol Theatre. Tickets start at $25 and are available through Ticketmaster and the CAPA ticket center.