A fairytale opening night for Philadelphia Ballet’s ‘Cinderella’

Philadelphia Ballet opened its 59th season Thursday night with a glass slipper, a fairy godmother, and a good amount of stage magic.

Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella is a delight, and it was especially charming with the opening-night cast.

Sydney Dolan, a first soloist, danced the role of Cinderella, and has all but grown up in the company. Artistic director Angel Corella hired her for (what was then called) Pennsylvania Ballet II, when she was 15. Now, she is a wonderful Cindy with strong acting skills, able to imagine herself into a better life and then abruptly fall right back to her dingy reality.

She is a dreamy, idealistic heroine, quick to embrace another life and equally quick to accept and forgive. She is also kind to a raggedy beggar woman, which turns out to be a good move, because she transfigures into a fairy godmother, danced by Dayesi Torriente.

Cinderella’s stepsisters are petty and cruel, but also hilarious. Stevenson chose to cast men in the roles, and Yuval Cohen and Russell Ducker are great at physical comedy; falling upstairs, leaping in a klutzy way that clearly takes a lot of skill, trying to charm the prince, and willing their feet into a glass slipper — er, sparkly pointe shoe — that barely fits over their toes.

Equally impressive is Ashton Roxander as the jester, whose soaring jumps and fast multiple turns hearken back to a young Corella impressing at American Ballet Theatre.

It is Roxander’s jester who, while searching for the woman the prince danced with at the ball, notices Cinderella by the fire. In this retelling, Cindy doesn’t try the slipper on , but is spotted with its match. That is proof enough.

Sterling Baca looks every inch the handsome prince, and his dancing is up to par as well. He and Dolan were each lovely dancing alone, but awkward at times in their partnering.

Stevenson’s Cinderella premiered in 1970s, but continues to be a traditional-style classical ballet, with divertissments of beautiful dancing that have nothing to do with the plot. Here, they are primarily danced by the fairies. Torriente sparkles and moves along the story.

She is followed by a quartet of other fairies: Kathryn Manger as the spritely spring fairy, Thays Golz as the summer fairy, Lucia Erickson as the autumn fairy, and So Jung Shin as the winter fairy. They bring the low-tech magic. Depending on the season, petals or snow fall from the rafters. In a poof, the fairy godmother tosses a pumpkin offstage and a beautiful carriage appears. Cinderella had been wearing a ragged dress and a shmata on her head, but now is in a crisp white tutu and tiara.

And of course they all live happily ever after, even the stepfamily Cinderella immediately forgives.

The lush dancing and bits of magic will appeal to any age. While Cinderella is a family-friendly story ballet, it is also in three acts over more than two hours, and it starts off slow. This may not be for the very young or impatient .

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Philadelphia Ballet’s Cinderella runs through Oct. 16 and Oct. 20-22. Academy of Music. Tickets start at $25. philadelphiaballet.org, 215-893-1999.