Ross Brown
Above Royal New Zealand Ballet Cinderella dancer Lucy Green.
The Royal New Zealand Ballet’s production of Cinderella, choreographed by Christopher Hampson, returns to seven centres from August 2 to September 9. It had last been performed in 2007 and toured China, and was the Ballet’s most popular show before last year’s The Sleeping Beauty.
Artistic director Ethan Stiefel says of the Tower season of Cinderella, ‘Our rendition of the story lifts the magic from the page and embraces the belief that dreams can come true, whilst elegantly showing off the dancers’ talent and versatility.’
Hampson had created five ballets for the Royal New Zealand Ballet, with Cinderella his fourth. ‘The story is classic … the cruel stepmother, the comedic stepsisters, a handsome prince and a magical fairy godmother. But composer Sergei Prokofiev has given us more than this. For me his score shows growth, honesty, humility and love. It is a tale that shows us a journey from dark to light,’ he says.
After opening night, he takes up his new role as artistic director of the Scottish Ballet in Glasgow, says the RNZB.
Tracy Grant Lord designed the costumes, which include over 100,000 Swarovski crystals specially made for the RNZB. Cinderella’s tutu and the cloak that she wears to the ball have been remade for this production, and Swarovski crystals also adorn insect costumes and wings, the stepmother’s negligée and the spider’s web.
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