Cinderella
Bushnell Center for Performing Arts
Hartford
May 18, 2026
The history of modern ballet has recently been divided into two distinct eras: the pre-Chalamet era and the post-Chalamet era. But we’ll get to that in a bit.
First, I want to talk about the World Ballet Company’s production of Cinderella at the Bushnell Center for Performing Arts Sunday night. The stage was transformed into the setting for the heroine’s adventure with massive, intricate, hand-drawn sets that transformed Mortensen Hall into an unhappy home, an enchanted forest and a magnificent ball. The most impressive set piece was a gigantic, gilded clock that loomed over Cinderella as she lived out her dream.
Part of the fun of going to the ballet is allowing your imagination to take over. Ballet communicates its story through movement, allowing a degree of interpretation that produces a more interactive experience than one might expect. I found myself moving along with the dancers in my seat. Mimicking their movements was like mouthing the lyrics to a song I’m trying to learn. I could feel the story more, if that makes sense.
Even without my participation, the expert performances of the international crew were both fun to watch and evocative. Cinderella herself was played by Polina Marushina, who brought a sense of innocence and ambition to the title character that is often missing. Cinderella is often portrayed as meek and accepting of her fate. Marushina’s take on the character clearly wants more out of her life and leaps at the opportunity, figuratively and literally as a dancer, to move beyond her lot in life. She communicates that emotion with sweeping movement, inviting the audience into her world.
Where Cinderella is optimistic and bright, the stepsisters, performed by Tatiana Suliak and Sophia Sheahan, are cynical, conniving and mean-spirited. Their dancing showed it. Their movement were sharp and harsh, bristling with antagonistic energy that made them the standouts of the show.
Of course, I feel I must address current events. We now live in a world that has been forever changed by Timothée Chalamet’s remarks about “no one caring” about ballet (and opera). While I think he was being a little silly, there’s a more interesting question in his statement than the relative relevance of different forms of art. Instead, does art need to be relevant at all?
It’s a fair question to ask, because to be honest, many of us practice anachronistic styles to express ourselves, this review being the perfect example. Why do I write, when I could make a podcast or a video that’s more socially and technologically relevant? Why ballet, when the show could have been a more modern-styled musical, or a television show or movie?
Well, the simple answer is I like writing. I don’t want to make a podcast. The hundreds of people involved in Cinderella want to make ballet and nothing else. Yes, entertainers seek to entertain, but the true artistic drive is one towards self-expression. Whether one person or a thousand people showed up, those dancers and stagehands were going to put on the best show they could.
The people did show up, importantly with their children. I saw so many little girls dressed up as princesses, excitedly pointing to each other and waving. They waited eagerly at the princess photo shoot for their chance to be the star of the show. They watched the performance with wide-eyed wonder. They chattered nonstop during intermission about the funny rats and the pretty clothes and the dancing.
I’m not going to make any broad statements about whether people care or not about ballet, because I don’t know “people” to make such a claim. What I do know is I had a great time, and I saw a bunch of children having a great time too.
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Jamil goes to check out the latest art show at the Manchester Art Association.
