I went see AVA ballets production of Cinderella and aside from a few bright spots I was fairly disappointed. 2 stars feels a little harsh, but 3 would be too generous.
I'll start with the positives:
The pioneer is a lovely facility and it was quite nice having the philharmonic playing, for a discounted rate on the ticket I would have just come to see them to be honest.
The men who played the stepsisters were arguably the best part. Threw themselves into the roles even doing some substantial dancing in heels at one point which was impressive.
All of the sets were very nice for the production.
Neutral things: Some of the costumes were beautiful, but some looked like they came from the thrift store and were just bedazzled.
Nice smoke effects at times, and it was neat to see fairy godmother fly. However, Other than these few exceptions no significant lighting or effects were used. Surely the pioneer center can do more lighting to help set moods?
Negatives:
I thought I came to a ballet, so why did it take over half an hour before the first pair of pointe shoes? (Yes I was checking my watch, that's how engaging the "choreography" was in the first part of the show). Soloists were mostly okay, but the corps were often a mess. They looked uncomfortable to the point that I felt bad for them. Cinderella was decent, but I can't say more than that because she didn't have a lot of actual dancing to do until midway into the second act. I would have loved to have seen more from her to really appreciate her talents. The Prince was a major disappointment, it looked like he was phoning it in the entire time. No passion, no effort, nothing especially impressive. The partner work between the principles looked uncomfortable like they had just met a few days before.
Overall I felt like this missed the mark. It felt thrown together and phoned in like they knew that people would come no matter what kind of show was put on. They could have used another month to make a decent show. The only time my heart raced was when I was afraid for people doing things they didn't seem ready to do on stage. I noticed a significant number of people didn't return for act 2 which is sad for the arts in northern Nevada.
This won't be my last time going to an AVA production, but if the next show isn't a step up in quality or a step down in price then that one will likely be the last. read more