Cinders dazzles at the ball

New productions of old ballets always fill you with hope. The sets are fresh and the costumes remade, while both dancers and musicians seem to perform with renewed enthusiasm.

The Royal Ballet has a new production of Cinderella, and that's an important event because the Royal is our national ballet company and Cinderella was the first full-length British ballet, made by Frederick Ashton in 1948 when the Royal was still the humble Sadler's Wells troupe.

Of course, what we want to know is whether the new production, overseen by Wendy Ellis Somes and designed by Toer van Schayk (sets) and Christine Haworth (costumes), is any good. Is it still a quintessentially English ballet? Does Ashton's filigree-style shine?

The answer is both yes and no. The designs are mostly excellent, the costumes especially pretty with Cinders in a sweet blue dress and the Ugly Sisters dolled up to the nines. The feel is vaguely French, with Fragonard-style dresses for the Court ladies and some sensational piled-high-and-powdered wigs.

The sets are a bit generic ballet-land, although all are pretty and create just the right fairytale atmosphere. The exception is the kitchen scene, a rather thin opener, with the hearth incorporated into a faded entrance hall where half the pictures have been auctioned off (Cinders's family is what you'd called impoverished gentry). There was also a jaw-droppingly cheesy patterned-light projection onto the auditorium dome, and a front cloth painted with a fire and mantelpiece plus framed portraits of Ashton and Prokofiev.

Dance wise, opening nights often feel more like final dress rehearsals, with dancers uncertain where to go and how long they should take to get there.

There was a bit of this last night, unsurprising when you add in the fact that most of the Royal's line-up is new to the ballet.

Glitches aside, there were many strong performances, with some lovely placement in the ballroom scenes, and Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg as dazzling as ever as Cinders and the Prince. Much was expected of Royal Ballet retirees Wayne Sleep and Anthony Dowell as the Ugly Sisters, but polished as they were, they weren't as larky as you'd expect. Nor was there much humour or mischievousness. Sleep was good as the nervous half of the gruesome twosome, although Dowell wasn't making much effort.

More seriously, the production didn't feel especially like an Ashton ballet. The reason is simply that the Royal doesn't dance his work often enough for it to stick in their collective muscle memory. Most dance in a style you'd call international athletic. It's strong and bold and polished, but it lacks the delicate lyricism you need for Ashton.

The Royal Ballet: Cinderella