AFTER watching the ballet, I was lucky enough to chat on the phone with one of Cinderella’s stepsisters to talk about not looking perfect, balancing comedy and ballet technique, and what it means to connect on a human level.
Given the same role Cinderella’s choreographer Jayne Smeulders danced 14 years ago, Asja Petrovski tells me her character is named Anastasia — a detail she finds funny, because her mum insists that’s what her own name is short for.
Cruel
And whilst I always thought the stepsister duo to be evil and cruel, without too many redeeming qualities, Petrovski’s lively and playfully animated portrayal of Anastasia was a true standout and had me invested from the get go.
“I was told Pamala [Barnes], the other step-sister, was meant to be the favourite child, that I’m always striving to be like her, and she’s sort of my role model. She’s the one that is always getting angry first and I’m always looking at her as how to react myself,” Petrovski said on her performance.
“I was told to basically feel like I’m amazing, and everyone else around me thinks I’m amazing.
“So I’m a little bit delusional, and I think I’m great.
“I think that’s the character that I was going for.”
• Evil Stepsisters Pamela Barnes and Asja Petrovski with Cinderella (Mayume Noguromi).
Ballet is all about exquisite lines and an effortless sense of grace — qualities a stepsister absolutely does not possess.
After training for years at the Australian Ballet School, going on to the Ballets de France and now seven years at the West Australian Ballet, it isn’t easy to let all that technique go.
“I think this is the first role where I don’t have to strive for perfection and to look beautiful and elegant.
“I actually have to look the complete opposite and look sort of diabolical on stage,” Petrovski laughs.
She assures me she has set choreography but has been encouraged to do it in her own way and to be free with it.
“Whether it’s a higher leg, high kick or more oomph or something like that. We have that freedom.
“Jane, the choreographer, said to us ‘girls, go for it or try something new’ so that gave me the push to do a bit more.”
I spotted her nibbling on Cinderella’s pointe shoe ribbon at one point which Petrovski admits she completely forgot doing on stage, saying “it came over me to just eat it”.
Even when not centre stage, it is in her side performances and ability to hold character that makes her stage persona realistic and three dimensional.
Petrovski tells me it can be tiring and sometimes she can almost do too much, but from the audiences’ perspective, the freedom and silliness certainly dresses up sidelines.
Petrovski describes Smeulders as genuinely warm and deeply human, saying she drew inspiration from the choreographer’s turn as Anastasia for her own interpretation.
“Jane’s really fantastic to work with. She knows exactly what she wants and she always brings great energy into the studio.
“She’s a great choreographer, but I also love how funny she is and comical.”
Petrovski says Cinderella continues to be such loved ballet for audiences of all ages because it’s “truly magical”.
“It just feels like you’re stepping right into a fairytale and the story is full of joy and charm.
“It’s a fairy tale that I loved personally since I was young. I feel really lucky to be a part of the production.”
by ISLA TOMLINSON