Esprit De Corps

Last Sunday 20 November I ventured to the Kennedy Center to see the ballet “Cendrillon” or Cinderella performed by les Ballet de Monte Carlo company. First I’ve been to Monaco when I travelled to Nice in 2010 and took a day trip to Monte Carlo because I was curious where Grace Kelly had made her home. Second I had no idea Monte Carlo had a ballet and toured extensively. Finally I’m always excited to see a production of Cinderella since it’s one of my favorite fairy tales.

The first half of the ballet set up the plot of Cinderella mourning the loss of her mother and her father remarrying the Stepmother. The wedding slip dress symbolized love and unity between Cinderella’s mum and her dad. This ballet was much more modern dance in visuals then a classical ballet which can be good and bad. As a viewer I’m a traditional fan of jumps, lifts and pirouettes. Here I would have liked more of all three. The staging was extremely minimalist with white backdrop and steep stairs where Cinderella would descend. The second half picked up momentum as Cinderella with her father’s blessing found her Prince Charming. I liked that the Prince wasn’t the focal point of the story but rather icing on the cake. The costumes were pastels and rich velour with a very Versace modern style to them. The ending of fairy dust floating down accompanied Cinderella dressed in her mother’s white wedding slip dress resulted in a ten minute standing ovation.

Title of post inspiration
Apropos to ballet

Love DC in November
Gorgeous sky
Cold but cozy

View from a rooftop
Paper program this time 😯

Stay safe stay well ❤️❤️❤️

18 thoughts on “Esprit De Corps

  1. Glad you got to go out to the ballet, but like you if i go to a ballet I prefer a traditional one. Some upgradings of stories can fit but with Ballet I will stick with tradition. I want the lifts, leaps and just the gracefulness of the original style. I am glad you had a good time, btw, lovely mask 🙂 makes me
    smile.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I’m a traditionalist too and this ballet was conceptualized as a modern post feminist take on Cinderella right down to the costumes no tutus in sight! Physically it was ok but the director imo focused more on the story reinterpretation then the art of ballet which are the focal moves
      The ending was happy and the audience gave the company a ten minute standing ovation!

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