Cinderella on Pointe

There was a great deal of sole searching going on at the Lobero when State Street Ballet performed a highly entertaining version of Cinderella, choreographed by the company’s founder Rodney Gustafson. State Street Ballet’s Cinderella at the Lobero was celebrating its 20th anniversary.

The production, with its stirring music by Sergei Prokofiev, was written in 1940, but not finished until 1945 while he wrote the opera War and Peace. Cinderella had its debut with the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow.

The fairytale show featured Amara Galloway, a member of the company since 2017 in the title role, with Ethan Ahuero, who joined State Street in 2023, as the handsome prince.

As well as the colorful sets and glorious costumes by Christina Giannini, how could one forget the Ugly Sisters played with high camp by Sergei Domrachev – always a joy as Mother Ginger in the Nutcracker – and Nathaniel Tyson, with Marina Fliagina as the Wicked Stepmother and Arianna Hartanov as the Fairy Godmother.

A truly enchanting evening, glass slipper and all…