Charming light ballet

Press, 10 April 1980, Page 6

Charming light ballet

I'By HEATH LEES i The New Z.ealand Ballet! opened it-s Christchurch sea-, sonjClast evening '■ in the: Theitre Royal with an offerings of two pieces—“ Light Fantastic” and “Cinderella.”, Tpe first of •_ these j was reaHy. a frollic, thofigh done with imaging-; tiveTexploitarion of very few | stages resources. The four! principal dancers were all in| good form, with Jon Trim-; a highly extrovert! Go-Getter who protests Undoing love with a Valentinadike fervour, yet is swayed by the next pretty face£that comes along. Adrienne. Matheson was supple and 'expressive as his Fancy, 'and Yvonne Parnell wasf?' a T delicate, porcelainlikej/jFancy for. the shy Pierrot;- ably danced . by Emihett;. Hardie? with... a for .mime.. ? /There? was a : feeling at what would have been- very' successful as a sHo&lu'ntesuming little piece hadybeen. extended to provide a ‘reasonable first half,

,and one wondered if the (delicacy of the mood always i ■ remained during the various < I extensions;" for example; ’ why the dabbling i.n .pup-jli petry of the Lonely Ladies irip the middle? Still,, the effect,’, ■waff colourful, amusing; and): often invigorating to the; •eye. )< |’ Mood gave way to fairy!: i tale when in the second halfp [“Cinderella”, was presented |i [using not the Prokofief score but Rossini’s music to “La < Cenerentola.” '■ The music itself is inoffen- I sive, though it become rather 1 featureless, especially with 1 the dull flatness of a recorded < version. The production itself < opts for lightness and charm as the main keynotes, rather 1 than aiming for any great t stylistic display or richness •• of emotional-projection. . ' ' However, the opera buffa i element of the music allows r foran emphasis on the comic -aspects > of the tale f rather than a dwelling. on: its i pathos .: or; on -<ariy lasting 1 moral, truth that it might t contain?’ “ ..' : i

For this reason Cinderella tends to be overlooked at the outset in favour of the .trio of two ugly sisters (who admittedly dance with great esprit) and the Baron, who is go poor that even his bedsocks have holes. . , Cinderella does ?‘ really come into her own though in the scene in the Magic Garden and of course in the Ballroom Scene, manificently opened out before your very eyes by a clever piece of stage machinery. Fay Hyam brought delicacy and charm to the role while Shayne Rumbal was a regal prince, even if his dashing style became a little hectic at times. There is no live orchestra to this production—more’s the pity. The ballet loses a sense of artistic immediacy when an important element is locked-'into history by means of a tape. ’Still, there is a measure of spontaneity, loss of vitality, arid variety for all—a . mixture which last evening’s audience obviously found very satisfying.-.