A Magical Night at the Ballet

Last night I went to see Boston Ballet's production of Cinderella with two of my good friends. As can be expected, it was a magical, wonderful experience. The dancing, costumes, set and effects were beautiful. It reminded me of why I fell in love with Ballet and kept up with it, and why so many people every year flock to see performances such as this even though tickets are in no way cheap.

The version of Cinderella put on by the Boston Ballet this year differed slightly from the usual classic. Of course, it's a ballet, so it can only be so long (it only had 2 acts, and Act 1 had 2 scenes). There was no stepmother, but her stepsisters were very active in the ballet. Portrayed by Boyko Dossev and Yury Yanowsky, they were comical and hilarious. They clomp all over the place, while they are being fitted for the ball and at the ball itself. Watching them fight with each other- their silly dance routine complete with exaggerated pantomiming and acting- easily made them one half of the comic relief. The other half was the Court Jester, played by Avetik Karapetyan. His dances were extremely intricate combinations of leaps and twirls. The life of the ball, he handled a mishap in the Ballet perfectly when one of the shoes went flying into the pit! He was the life of the ball and the ballet. The Ballerina who danced the role of Cinderella, Misa Kuranga, was simply beautiful. She looked ethereal in her costume at the ball and her wedding to the Prince, and her solos were light, airy, graceful, and everything an aspiring ballerina would dream of dancing. Entirely en pointe, they were of course extremely difficult. The Fairy Godmother was portrayed by Petra Conti, and she as well as the Fairies of the Four Seasons and the Stars were just as beautiful. The entire ballet was magical, and I never wanted it to end.

You don't know how multifaceted ballet is until you see it performed. It requires incredible precision and puts a ridiculous amount of stress on the body. Balancing on pointe, doing sharp turns and high leaps requires hours of practice; and dancers like those of the Boston Ballet make it look so easy. At the same time, a dancer needs to remember the character he or she is portraying and never fall out of it. The dance itself tells only half the story- the other half is told depending on how the dancer moves through the steps. Pantomime and acting in general is a huge part of dance. Performing it is exhilarating and rewarding, but being a dancer- especially at the professional level- is incredibly physically and mentally taxing. It takes passion for the art and hard work, so before you say that ballet is easy and before you withold any dancer the accolades they deserve, watch them rehearse or perform. There is no form of storytelling more beautiful than dance.

~Simran