Sheila Chisholm
CHOREOGRAPHED by Veronica Paeper, Cinderella is Cape Town City Ballet’s (CTCB) festive season three-act ballet which will be staged – to recorded music – in Artscape’s Theatre until January 10. Set to Sergei Prokofiev’s score, Paeper follows French poet and author Charles Perrault’s fairy-tale concerning Cinderella’s mistreatment by Violet and Daffodil her two ugly sisters.
It’s a delightful ballet giving company dancers chances to dance/act multiple roles.
This season sees Elizabeth Nienaber and Frieda Mennen debut as Cinderella and (respectively) as Spring Fairy and Winter Fairy. So too do Daniel Szybkowski and Ivan Boonzaaier make their debut as the Prince.
Szybkowski also takes on the character roles of Dressmaker and Marquis de Conceit. While Boonzaaier acts as ugly sister Daffodil opposite Johnny Bovang as Violet.
Asked how they adapt to these character switches Nienaber, Mennen, Szybkowski and Boonzaaier thought quietly for a moment before answering.
“The different costumes help as does the music. Cinderella involves tapping deeply into my emotions to play her with sensitivity. The Winter Fairy is almost the opposite. There I have to convey a cold iciness through sharp, quick movements,” said Mennen.
Mennen’s Prince is Royal Swedish Ballet trained Szybkowski. They’ve partnered each other previously, and enjoy working together.
“In Cinderella we dance three pas de deux. The first is in the dream sequence, the second when we meet at the ball and the third is the grande wedding pas de deux.” said Szybkowski.
Asked if being on stage wearing formal costuming in any way alters their interpretations from the rehearsal room.
“No. Not that really,” says Szybkowski. “Frieda rehearses in a practice tutu. However if perhaps the tutu’s is designed with a narrow basque I might find my hands not getting a proper hold on her hips slipping instead to ‘grab’ her rib-cage. Or, when the skirt is too wide, her legs will disappear under the tulle and I worry about properly setting her on balance for a pirouette or after a lift.
“What can disturb is the lighting. Sidelights can sometimes blind you when turning. Alternatively when the lighting is on the dim side, the audience can become a horrid void and I have to be careful not to lose communication. Still experience sorts these minor issues out.”
How does he switch from being a prince to the roles as Dressmaker and Marquis de Conceit?
“Being the Prince is the most difficult. Although Veronica’s choreography doesn’t provide a grande pas seul the part demands projecting elegance and nobility if its not to become uninteresting and bland.
“The Dressmaker calls for careful timing as I dress Daffodil and Violet on stage. That can become tricky as there are only just so many bars to do it in. But Marquis de Conceit provides loads of acting fun.”
Nienaber sees Cinderella as neglected and down trodden. “I am conscious that punctuated between lighter moments Prokofiev’s music has sinister undercurrents. However Cinderella is full of love. She couldn’t find happiness with her Prince if she didn’t feel inner peace. That joyousness must also come through when I dance Spring Fairy. Spring, after all, is natures rebirth.”
Nienaber’s Prince is Boonzaaier. After months recovering from injury he is back and “pleased to be cast opposite Elizabeth”.
“We too have danced together so understand how the other feels,” says Boonzaier. “I acknowledge the Prince challenges my intelligence if I am to make his character count.
“Daffodil,” he smiles, “is totally the opposite. She’s bossy. She’s deliberately unkind to Cinderella. She initiates action but I have to be careful not to overact or over re-act. Being funny only happens when you don’t try to be funny.”
l Tickets from R120, 0861 915 8000.