'Cinderella' a marker of success

• Article
• Comments ()
• Click-2-Listen
• Videos

By

The Washington Ballet's final program of the year, "Cinderella," playing at the Warner Theatre this week, and its just-announced repertoire for next season paint a broad picture of what the city's major dance group has accomplished and where it is headed under Septime Webre's direction.

"Cinderella" was created for TWB five years ago by Mr. Webre. This time around, he finds the changes deeply satisfying — visually, choreographically and in terms of performance.

"When we first staged 'Cinderella,' " he says, "it had beautiful costumes, but we had to borrow scenery because we ran out of money." This time, new sets have been designed by award-winning local set designer Jim Kronzer.

"The ball scene is based on the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles," Mr. Webre says. "There's a whole wall of mirrors at the back of the stage, and everything is white, sort of ghostlike. The costumes are very colorful, so they'll really pop in this streamlined white environment."

Another improvement is reworking some of the choreography he did earlier to Sergey Prokofiev's dramatic score. "It was a rough draft," Mr. Webre says of his first version, "but Prokofiev delivers to any choreographer such impeccable structure that it's hard to screw up."

Perhaps most important, he's happy with the notable strengths his company has acquired. "Some of the dancers are tackling roles they did before but with a lot more clarity and nuance," he says.

Next year marks the 10th anniversary of Mr. Webre's ambitious reign over a feisty company that has morphed under his direction from a modest enterprise into one fast acquiring a significant national profile. This June, TWB will be part of the Kennedy Center's weeklong Ballet Across America gala honoring such important regional companies as the Boston, Joffrey and Pennsylvania ballets.

Each will perform a single ballet. TWB will reprise one of its greatest successes of the season, Twyla Tharp's scintillating "Nine Sinatra Songs."

The ballet was part of a TWB program called "Genius!" Having landed for the occasion three of the most talented, sought-after choreographers in the business — Miss Tharp, Mark Morris and Christopher Wheeldon — Mr. Webre is repeating this winning combination next season. Miss Tharp's "Baker's Dozen," Mr. Wheeldon's "Morphoses" and Mr. Morris' "Pacifica" will return for "Genius 2!" and the director hopes to make the trio a continuing tradition.

The rest of next year's offerings are more varied. For its first program in the fall, with the company back in the KenCen's refurbished Eisenhower Theater, TWB will take on the stylistic challenges of the oldest major ballet extant, "La Sylphide" (1832) created by the great Danish choreographer August Bournonville. The Bournonville style is one of ballet's most entrancing techniques, and from it the little country of Denmark has launched some of the greatest male dancers of the past 50 years, including Erik Bruhn and Peter Martins, now director of the New York City Ballet. Its fleet style and dynamic, fast footwork executed with the arms held in elegant curves are demanding, and TWB's male dancers have a pleasantly challenging task ahead of them.

Other offerings on next year's slate are mixed, eschewing for the first time any of the great works of the 20th century's iconic choreographers — such as George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, Jerome Robbins. The third program in the series will be a repeat of the director's "Peter Pan," and the final program will feature a world premiere by Mr. Webre, "Rockerman," to the music of Elton John, plus a premiere by Edwaard Liang.

WHAT: The Washington Ballet in "Cinderella"

WHEN: Tonight through Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m.

WHERE: Warner Theatre

TICKETS: $30 to $80

PHONE: 202/397-7328

WEB SITE: www.washingtonballet.org