Ballet de Monte Carlo

I went to see this company perform their version of Cinderella at Segerstrom in Orange County as sort of a last minute thing. We've had a dance drought here since late fall. Turned out to be a great choice! The music is the familiar Prokofiev score (one of my favourite ballet scores) but the choreography, sets, costumes and lighting are all new. Choreography is by the company's artistic director, Jean-Christophe Maillot. The company dances in a contemporary ballet style. In Maillot's version, the Fairy is the ghost or spirit of Cinderella's dead mother and Cinderella is barefoot, with a heavy sprinkling of glitter on her feet when she goes to the ball. (All of the other women wear pointe shoes.) There is a lot of humour in this production, as well as one of the most romantic pas de deux I've seen. The characters all seem to be quite multi-dimensional in personality which makes for a much more interesting and theatrical experience. The corps was exceptionally well coordinated and all of the dancers had strong technique. It was defintiely worth the trip to Orange County!