ADT brings 'Cinderella' to the stage

For dancer Taylor Jordan, it's like stepping into the perfect-fitting glass slipper. As the title princess in Alabama Dance Theatre's production of "Cinderella," running Friday through Sunday at the Davis Theatre for the Performing Arts, she is center stage.

But surrounding Taylor, dancing the roles of the Stepsisters, Fairy Godmother and seasonal fairies, will be some of the closest friends she has ever made. In "Cinderella," a group of senior company girls will be performing in their final Alabama Dance Theatre production, all, like Cinderella, setting off on their own happily-ever-afters.

"It has definitely been very strong," she said of the bond among her class of dancers, who spent countless hours dancing in ADT's Armory studios. "We have been through ups and downs, but the downs make us stronger. We have always stuck by each other. It's going to be sad when we leave, but we have such a strong friendship — better, different than friends we have at school."

And though Taylor is the star, ADT resident choreographer Sara Sanford, re-imagining the 2008 "Cinderella" she created when these girls were just pre-teens, has given the dancers more fully formed supporting roles. The step-sisters, so often played as slapstick, here are given substantial, technically demanding choreography, on par with the lead character's steps.

And in Sanford's work, the story goes deeper than the Disney tale.

"I was more interested in the human side of it," said Sanford, whose work is set to the traditional Prokofiev "Cinderella" score. "As an individual character, how does Cinderella handle the terrible things that are thrown at her? There's more emphasis on the human element. I start with Cinderella herself, daydreaming and remembering her past, with her father. That's a new element.

"Part of the challenge was that our company has really grown. We have such a large company this year, and it was my challenge to utilize everybody to their best abilities."

ADT productions are known for their enormous casts, and this production includes 92 dancers, everyone from polished senior company members to 6-year-olds — as fireflies, grasshoppers and mice —taking the stage for the first time.

This is the year of Cinderella, after all. The animated Disney movie premiered 65 years ago, and next month, the latest incarnation of the tale, Kenneth Branagh's live-action "Cinderella" film starring Lily James of "Downton Abbey" as the noble heroine and Cate Blanchett as her evil stepmother, comes out in theaters March 13.

When planning for this production, Sanford said, neither she nor the other folks were aware that it would be such a banner year for the famous princess.

"It was kind of a happy accident," she said. "Everybody's got Cinderella in their minds now."

Endings and beginnings

The audience may want to take note: this could be the "I-saw-her-when" moment for many departing senior company members, among them Taylor Jordan, who plans to pursue a professional dance career. Just today, Taylor returns home after a weekend audition with the Boston Ballet. Becoming a member of that prestigious company is but one possibility for the young dancer, who has also applied to The Juilliard School and auditioned to dance as an apprentice for the Charlotte Ballet.

Not bad prospects, especially for a girl who came into dance late — as "late" in the dance world can mean older than 9 or 10. Taylor was a student at Baldwin Magnet Middle School when she auditioned for Seale, who awarded her a scholarship. After dancing her way from apprentice to senior company member, she found her passion as she won roles such as Odette in "Swan Lake" (as part of ADT's "Princess Stories") and Lucy in last fall's "Dracula."

Raul Peinado, a seasoned professional dancer who has performed in many ADT productions, has partnered with Taylor often and, this time around, is her Prince Charming.

It's not unusual to see Taylor in the early afternoon — a senior at Stanhope Elmore, her school day ends at noon — all alone, perfecting her technique at the Armory, said Kitty Seale, artistic director of ADT.

"She has a very natural, classical quality — it's just in her somehow — and it's unusual because you usually have to learn that," Seale said. "She has a beautiful performing quality — really high jumps, really good turns, long legs, the look of the ballerina. She's a very hard worker and she's self-motivated "

For Taylor, it's about giving a near-perfect performance, but also about facing her future.

"I want to know that I worked as hard as I could, just because I know this is what it's going to be like next year, in the professional world," she said. "Knowing that I want to get myself ready for the work ethic and just the drive. I just love dancing. I'd rather be dancing all day than doing anything else."

The particular performance stands apart from those that came before.

"This one is definitely, by far, going to be the most difficult emotionally, because it is our last real performance together," Taylor said of the tightly bound group of departing senior girls. "I've talked to all the girls, and we just want to make the last one special, and to really enjoy it."

Sanford, who drew inspiration from, among other sources, the movie "Ever After," with its lush, natural setting and its reinterpretation of familiar characters, believes the audience will be able to feel that energy and enjoy a new take on an age-old story of transformation.

"It's a timeless tale that I think has withstood the ages," she said. "It's a story that everybody loves, and it's not going away. If anything, it's being reinvented over and over again. Everybody loves a rags to riches story."

WANT TO GO?

WHAT: "Cinderella," presented by Alabama Dance Theatre

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday, 2:30 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: The Troy University Davis Theatre for the Performing Arts, 251 Montgomery St. in downtown Montgomery.

ADMISSION: $15 to $30, available at alabamadancetheatre.com

INFORMATION: alabamadancetheatre.com, 241-2590