Sorry to hear about your problems with the controller. At the start of Level 1 Lumi is still too weak to reach the first light orb, but gains jump height and movement at a later point and can come back to it . I wonder if that is what you experienced. This was an intentional design decision, but I can see how it might be confusing.
Viewing post in Lumi and the Dark Night jam comments
No, I found all the light balls but couldn't make the jump to one of them, the one on the upper floor with some enemies. I just couldn't make the jump, then I switched to keyboard and immediately made it. With some testing, I realized Lumi moved faster with the keyboard than with the controller. So I just finished the game with the keyboard.