CINDERELLA

St James Theatre 2, Wellington

03/08/2022 - 06/08/2022

Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre - Aotea Centre, Auckland

10/08/2022 - 13/08/2022

Napier Municipal Theatre, Napier

20/08/2022 - 20/08/2022

Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch

25/08/2022 - 28/08/2022

Production Details


Choreographed by Loughlan Prior
Composed by Claire Cowan
Conducted by Hamish McKeich

Presented by the Royal New Zealand Ballet
The Ryman Healthcare Season


Ballet dream-team create sparkling new CINDERELLA for Royal New Zealand Ballet 

The ‘dream team’ behind the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s dazzling 2019 Hansel & Gretel, choreographer Loughlan Prior and composer Claire Cowan, have reunited to create a spectacular new ballet – the Ryman Healthcare Season of Cinderella, opening 3 August.

The world premiere of the RNZB’s spanking-new Cinderella is the first production the company will perform back on their home stage in the freshly renovated St James Theatre in Wellington. The production will then gleefully skip to Auckland, Napier, Christchurch and Dunedin – the company’s first national tour in over a year.

Feisty, funny, and fabulous, Cinderella is the brainchild of award-winning master storyteller Prior, with a magical new score by Cowan, and fashion-forward designs by the San Francisco-based Australian designer Emma Kingsbury.

RNZB Artistic Director Patricia Barker says, “This thoroughly joyful, new telling of a classic story, created by a trinity of young ballet masterminds, is three years in the making. With Emma’s extraordinary set and costumes, Claire’s magnificent musical score, and Loughlan’s witty and dramatic storytelling, we’ve lovingly created a thoroughly magical modern Cinderella – a sparkly, well-styled twist on the much-loved classic, with a heroine who knows her own mind and a hero who follows his heart.”

Prior says, “Our Cinderella story centres around a quest for identity, true love and the courage to be yourself. The characters exist in a society of excess, titles and possessions, in which more is more; a direct parallel to the oversaturation of twenty-first century living. Cinderella and Prince Charming must push against the noise in order to re-write their own, authentic ‘happily ever afters’.”

Prior’s most recent main stage work for the company was 2021’s The Firebird which was described in one review as “brave, innovative and welcome” and another as “a triumph.” An international review of the extraordinary film version of The Firebird read, “Prior’s Firebird has it all; theatre magic, memorable performances.” Prior’s 2019 production of Hansel and Gretel, his first collaboration with Cowan, enchanted audiences around Aotearoa with almost 28,000 people enjoying it in theatres as a pre-Christmas treat, and 150,000 tuning in to watch free broadcasts of the ballet during April and May 2020.

Claire Cowan is at the forefront of composition in New Zealand. She has worked with the country’s biggest orchestras, including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, and the NZSO National Youth Orchestra while she was still a university student. She received Best Classical Artist at the Aotearoa Music Awards in 2021 (Hansel & Gretel CD with the NZSO), two Silver Scroll nominations, and a win for her first TV series soundtrack, Hillary. Hansel & Gretel broke new ground for the RNZB – it was the company’s first-ever full-length commission for a woman composer.

Emma Kingsbury has designed extensively for film, ballet, television, theatre and opera, in the US, Europe, Australia and the UK. Most recently, that includes Blacklight directed by Mark Williams (Ozark) and starring Liam Neeson, HBO’s Finding Magic Mike, Wooden Dimes for the San Francisco Ballet, The Firebird for Texas Ballet and the award-winning The Crucible for Scottish Ballet. This is her first commission for the RNZB.

Ryman Healthcare CEO, Richard Umbers, says, ““We’ve been a long-time supporter of the RNZB because many of our residents are long-time supporters as well. It will be great to see the ballet back at home in the St James in Wellington for a new take on this beautiful classic. Even better, they’re taking it on the road, so audiences around the country will get a chance to share the magic.”

RNZB Executive Director Lester McGrath says, “We are continually grateful for the support of our longtime partner Ryman Healthcare who have been working with us to bring beautiful ballet stories to the stage and screen since 2016. We also offer our sincerest thanks to the many generous funders and partners who have supported our St James Theatre fundraising campaign – helping us raise over $3m. We can’t wait to welcome everyone back to our beloved home.”

RNZB favourites, including Principals Mayu Tanigaito, Laurynas Vėjalis and Kate Kadow, will shine in iconic roles including Cinderella, Prince Charming and the Fairy Godmother, alongside a cast of delightful, colourful – and in some cases slightly surprising – characters. Highs, lows, fairy-tale endings, and happy-ever-afters spill from the stage in every shade of the rainbow, with dancing and storytelling that will bring joy to the young and young at heart.

The Ryman Season of Cinderella will be accompanied by a live orchestra in Wellington (Orchestra Wellington), Auckland (Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra) and Christchurch (Christchurch Symphony Orchestra), conducted by Hamish McKeich. 

SEASON DETAILS
Wellington: St James Theatre – 3-6 August 2022
Auckland: Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre – 10-13 August 2022
Napier: Municipal Theatre – 20-21 August 2022
Christchurch: Isaac Theatre Royal – 25-28 August 2022
Dunedin: Regent Theatre – 3 September 2022

Tickets for all shows are on sale now.

The season has a comprehensive Accessibility Programme including an audio described performance for the public in Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin, with touch tours for blind and low vision audience members; an audio described schools’ performance in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch with thanks to support from Parents of Vision Impaired New Zealand Inc; and a Musical Moves workshop, in collaboration with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, for intermediate and secondary school students to experience and understand the special working relationship between music and dance. While the company is in Tāmaki Makaurau, they will offer a Relaxed Performance of two other works for people with spectrum disorders, sensitivity differences and/or special needs, at Manukau’s Vodafone Events Centre.


CASTING
St James Theatre | Wednesday 3 & Thursday 4 August 2022, 7.30pm


Cinderella:  Mayu Tanigaito
The Royal Messenger:  Laurynas Vėjalis
Prince Charming:  Joshua Guillemot-Rodgerson
Prince Dashing:  Shae Berney


Stepmother:  Ana Gallardo Lobaina
Step-Sister – Madeleine:  Sara Garbowski
Step-Sister – Nicolette:  Kirby Selchow


The Fairy Godmother:  Kate Kadow
Father:  Paul Mathews
Queen:  Clytie Campbell


The Fab Five 
Karl:  Matthew Slattery
Thiery:  Shaun James Kelly
Alexander:  Damen Axtens
Christobel:  Kihiro Kusukami
Gianni:  Calum Gray


Mannequins  
Jemima Scott, Madeleine Graham, Georgia Baxter, Gretchen Steimle, Tessa Karle, Cadence Barrack


Royal Court 
Callahan Laird, Harry Peterson, Katherine Minor, Jemima Scott, Gretchen Steimle, Georgia Baxter, Tessa Karle, Monet Galea-Hewitt


Eligible Maidens 
Cadence Barrack, Georgia Baxter, Maggie Bryan, Monet Galea-Hewitt, Madeleine Graham, Lara Flannery, Teagan Tank, Gretchen Steimle, Tessa Karle, Jemima Scott 


Fencing Party and Ballroom Guests
Vincent Fraola, Levi Teachout, Jake Gisby, Luke Cooper, Dane Head, Christian Renforth


Tapestry Weavers
Teagan Tank, Ella Chambers, Monet Galea-Hewitt


CREATIVE TEAM
CHOREOGRAPHY:  Loughlan Prior
MUSIC:  Claire Cowan
SET AND COSTUME DESIGN:  Emma Kingsbury
LIGHTING DESIGN:  Jeremy Fern
CONDUCTOR:  Hamish McKeich
VISUAL EFFECTS PARTNER:  POW Studios


ORCHESTRAS
Orchestra Wellington
Christchurch Symphony Orchestra
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra 


Comedy , Dance ,


2 hrs 30 mins incl. interval

Cinderella - what ‘happily ever after’ means in the twenty-first century

Review by Dr Ian Lochhead 26th Aug 2022

It is over a year since the Royal New Zealand Ballet last performed in Christchurch so their return to the Theatre Royal with a sparkling new production of Cinderella is particularly welcome.  The challenges of lockdowns, travel restrictions and limits on indoor gatherings have been particularly daunting for our performing arts companies, not to mention their audiences, and there was a palpable air of expectation as the theatre filled.  Everyone, it seemed, was ready to be entertained; they were not disappointed.

The RNZB’s previous production of Cinderella was staged to Prokofiev’s bitter-sweet score, the product of one of the most difficult periods in Russian history during the Second World War.  In contrast, the creative team of choreographer Loughlan Prior, composer Claire Cowan and designer Emma Kingsbury have come up with a vision of the traditional fairy story that is unfailingly upbeat while adding some new twists to the plot that give it a contemporary resonance.  Their focus is much less on the traditional virtues of goodness and patient suffering being rewarded in the end through magical intervention but on taking charge of one’s own destiny and exploring what ‘happily ever after’ means in the twenty-first century.

This Cinderella is no shrinking violet but a feisty character who is willing, in the end, to take on the wicked stepmother at her own game.  Nor is Prince Charming a lovelorn aristocrat looking for a wife but a young man in search of personal fulfilment. Kingsbury’s costume and set designs place the action in a world that is both fantastic and magical but she provides sufficient contemporary references to make the characters seem believable in terms of everyday experience. A digital alarm clock freezes the action until a languid hand silences it; the stepsisters return from a shopping spree festooned with chic designer carry-bags. This is an unreal world but also one that is uncannily familiar.

Act One sets up the well-known character relationships of the Cinderella story but when Prince Charming appears the trajectory changes.  Pushed to marry by his domineering mother the prince escapes to the forest to practice his fencing skills.  This also allows the men of the company, armed with foils, to display their prowess.  As his companions depart the Prince encounters Prince Dashing and, in an eloquent pas de deux, he discovers the partner he has been looking for.  Like Cinderella, the Prince is also seeking to escape a destiny that has been forced upon him.  This is emphasised by the ensuing pas de deux in which both Prince Charming and Cinderella poignantly express their longing for a different future than the ones others have planned for them, their steps mirroring one another on opposite sides of the stage.

External intervention is nonetheless required when the Stepmother throws Cinderella’s ball-gown in the fire.  The Fairy Godmother appears with her team of five couturiers and entourage of mannequin; eventually a magnificent, flounced gown miraculously descends from the heavens.  Suitably attired, Cinderella floats up into the air as the curtain falls.

In Act Two we arrive at the ball during which Prince Charming must choose his bride.  The parallels with Act Three of Swan Lake, in which Prince Siegfried must make a similar choice, is unmistakeable.  Prior reinforces the link by introducing a sequence for the Stepsisters that is a witty parody of Petipa’s famous dance for the four little swans while Cowan’s score echoes Tchaikovsky’s familiar melodies.The parallel between the scheming Stepmother and Swan Lake’s evil von Rothbart is also made clear.  The arrival of Cinderella at the ball does not provide the triumphant resolution to the Prince’s dilemma that it normally does since Cinderella herself has as little interest in the Prince as he does in her.  She is attracted instead, to the Royal Messenger who delivered the invitations to the ball. As a result, the competition for the prince’s attention that forms a central part of the action in more traditional productions is missing.  This is more than made up for by the riotous proceedings of the ball itself, which quickly degenerates into chaotic scenes of revelry.  As the clock approaches the ominous hour of midnight, Cinderella’s gown becomes progressively shorter until she is finally forced to flee.

The final scene again inverts the traditional order of events.  A whole corps de ballet of hopefuls, who dangle their expectant feet over the edge of the stage, are progressively brought to despair as the glass slipper fails to fit.  The stepsisters are equally disappointed but when Cinderella reveals that the slipper is hers she hurls it away since princely wealth and status hold no attraction for her.

Resolution arrives beneath a neon sign that reads ‘Happily Ever After’. The Princes Charming and Dashing are united as are Cinderella and her Messenger.  Nineteenth-century ballets such as The Sleeping Beauty ended in an Apotheosis, in which all the plot threads were joined together and the full cast assembled on stage for a joyous final tableau.  Prior and Cowan give us their own version of this traditional ending in a celebratory ensemble that has the audience clapping in time with the music.  One of the considerable strengths of this production is the unanimity of its choreographic and musical intent. Cowan’s eclectic score, infused with Latin rhythms, provides the ideal springboard for Prior’s inventive and witty dance.  This infectious combination is clearly relished by the company as a whole.

The production draws on the full strength of the company and there are a wealth of parts to allow individuals to shine.  Foremost is the Cinderella of Mayu Tanigaito, who embraces the role’s opportunities to express a broad range of emotion from despair to defiance and whose indefatigable energy leaves her as apparently fresh and radiant at the end of the evening as she was at the beginning.  Laurynas Vėjalis as the Royal Messenger gives her able support.  As Prince Charming Joshua Guillemot-Rodgerson conveys the conflicted emotions of the character while simultaneously projecting its underlying virile strength.  Shae Berney lives up to his character’s title of Prince Dashing. As the Queen, Clytie Campbell is by turns confused, intransigent and finally accepting as she realises where her son’s happiness lies.  The Stepmother, Ana Gallardo Lobaina, is a fearsome, man-eating virago complete with cigarette holder wielded like a rapier.  The two step sisters, performed by Sara Garbowski and Kirby Selchow strike sparks off one another but never descend into caricature, although some of their gags are a little hackneyed.

Visually this is a sumptuous Cinderella with the projected backdrops well integrated into the production as a whole.  By some margin this is the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s most accomplished new production in recent years.  After the uncertainties and disruptions of the last two years the entire company appear to be relishing being back on stage in front of a live audience.  Last night’s audience were delighted to welcome them back to the Theatre Royal.  Presiding over all was Hamish McKeich conducting the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra.  Such was the polish of the orchestral sound that it was hard to believe that they were performing a brand new score for the first time.

Comments

John Smythe August 27th, 2022

To your praise of Mayu Tanigaito's Cinderella I would add her impeccable comic timing. Her ability to express how ridiculous her step mother & sisters' treatment of her is, avoids the 'poor victim' trope and adds to her character's strength.  

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Cinderella - stylish and glamorous, with the feeling of 60’s retro Chanel and Dior

Review by Kim Buckley 21st Aug 2022

It is said, it takes 10 years to make a dancer. This being true, how long does it take to make a choreographer? Loughlan Priors reimagining of Cinderella wears the cape of a Happily Ever After. At last, Prince Charming is out and proud, and Cinderella decides not to be a trodden down people pleaser. The theme is imbedded in and prescribed from our current societal understandings and cultural practises. People, do the inner work and let yourself be free. And, to confirm this necessary and challenging practise, the palace ball is a rainbow affair.

This show is stylish and glamourous, with the feeling of 60’s retro Chanel and Dior. The Emma Kingsbury set and costume design are ravishing, including the fire with no flame also used as a portal, and the faulty chandelier also used as a trapeze for shenanigans. Visual effects are delightful from POW Studios, especially at intermission. Music written by Claire Cowan is brilliant and astonishing and leads the story forward. In its entirety, this work is a delicious visual feast.

The choreography, the work, the steps themselves should be able to work alone, should be able to speak for themselves, own their place, without the music, without the costumes, without the visuals. These things are layered on top of the movement to add texture and tone and feeling. I feel like there isn’t enough dancing, not enough meat on the bones. Or the choreography is so good, it’s hidden in the razzle dazzle of the production. Either way, Prior is an emerging choreographic artist with plenty of years left to find his way. He is not there yet but he is on the right track. All the leads are capable of much more than they are given in this work.

Katherine Minor as Cinderella and Kihiro Kusukami as the Messenger really have the x-factor together. Their bodies work with the choreography Prior has given their story. Their energetic connection comes to us in the stalls.

Mathew Slattery as Prince Charming is lukewarm in his delivery of this role. Calum Gray as Prince Dashing delivers his choreography convincingly. Kirby Selchow as the stepmother, with Jemma Scott and Cadence Barrack as the stepsisters are the highlights of caricature, comic, and grotesque.

Mayu Tanigaito as The Fairy Godmother steps immaculately into her role. She rocks the plastic tutu and blue wig. The Fab Five, aka, ‘Queer Eye for The Straight Guy’ are entertaining with perfect placement in this work, a stroke of brilliance for the storyline. The mannequins are a nice touch. As are the little helpers, well done little ones.

There is a pinnacle moment in this work which I believe makes history in New Zealand Royal Ballet. Prior invites his audience to respond in the precise moment. And respond they do. I have never been in an audience with this response before. The whispered silence was deafening. And enlightening. I am sure this moment will be unpacked over cups of tea for weeks to come.

Watch this space for more of Prior’s choreography. One day, he will be full force and that will be WOW. Thank you again RNZB for delivering an experience no one will forget.

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A Picture Book Cinderella

Review by Brian Jones 14th Aug 2022

The Royal New Zealand Ballets production of Cinderella opened at the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre in Auckland, on the 10th August. This is a contemporary telling of a classic tale, with choreography by Loughlan Prior and original musical score by Claire Cowan.

As the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Hamish McKeich begins, the prologue is told visually through the use of an animated tapestry, setting the scene as we find Cinderella alone. From there we are taken on a journey where we meet a colourful cast of characters, each portrayed with a well-balanced combination of classical dance, humour and pantomime.

The close collaboration between choreographer Loughlan Prior, costume and set design by Emma Kingsbury and eclectic musical score by Claire Cowan, works well together to develop characters with a picture book quality. The cinematic sounding score provides atmosphere for the scenes.

Mayu Tanigaito’s performance as Cinderella is engaging and expressive with a lyrical style that embodies her role. The Royal Messenger, danced by Laurynas Vėjalis, is a well-chosen partner for Tanigaito, with a strong technique and appealing manner.

Joshua Guillemot-Rodgerson, as Prince Charming, gives a strong performance. The pairing with Shae Berney, as Prince Dashing, is well-balanced and they execute a strong, expressive pas de deux when they meet. The relationships of both Prince Dashing and The Royal Messenger with their respective partners, I would like to see more developed.

Many aspects come together to create an engaging, entertaining performance. The humour of the Step-Sisters, danced by Sara Garbowski and Kirby Selchow, their highlight being the Swan Lake parody at the ball, and the use of pop-culture references like the Fab Five, and Tinder dating, which adds further humour to this contemporary telling of the tale. Then there is the collage of musical styles and rhythms effectively used as the evening of the Royal Ball devolves from a stately affair to a more intoxicated party by the evenings end.

This rendering of the classical tale, while generally maintaining its original narrative, expands and contemporises the story as our two central characters each make choices and find their own happy ever after. While there are the odd moments where I feel a scene is drawn out a little too long, as in the step-sisters bedroom, overall, this is a vibrant, entertaining production that leaves the audience happy and satisfied.

Congratulations to the company and its creators.

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Reimagining Cinderella: sumptuous, enchanting and high camp

Review by Elizabeth Kerr 10th Aug 2022

The current season of a brand-new Cinderella by the Royal NZ Ballet is brilliant, subversive and wonderfully entertaining. A witty and inventive trio, choreographer Loughlan Prior, composer Claire Cowan and designer Emma Kingsbury, has taken one of the world’s best-known fairytales and reimagined the familiar rags-to-riches story to show what “happily ever after” can mean in the 21st century. Their exuberant production has a marvellous “more is more” approach, mashing together all kinds of music, dance and design in a super-collage irreverently combining history and tradition with folk, techno-pop, graffiti, animations and retro computer game elements. [More]

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Snazzy music, big and generous choreography

Review by Deirdre Tarrant 07th Aug 2022

This production fizzes with flair and fun and the newly renovated St James Theatre welcomes the company back home with lots of colour and style. Orchestra Wellington, under the ebullient baton of Hamish McKeich has fun too, with a score by Claire Cowan that romps through snazzy upbeat Latin rhythms, jazz and even parodies of Tchaikovsky, sometimes a little too enthusiastically. I would prefer a bit of space in the sound particularly in the pas de deux. Space to soar and time to dream?  This is a fairy story after all. But it is wonderful to have Orchestra Wellington and new music bursting from the pit.

Technology in a partnership with POW Studios is cleverly used and integrated throughout. The overall production design, however, nods strongly to traditional stage and theatre convention with set cloths and use of props. The elaborate Design of both Set and Costumes by Emma Kingsbury matches this ‘homage’ to history as well. Sumptuous, totally over the top swinging chandeliers, a moving staircase alongside Tinder dating and a screen game on the curtain at interval, are among the unexpected entertainment extras.

There are a lot of cross references to traditional ballets and to the cinematic world of reworks of fairy stories … all in all a cacophony of visual and performance overload. But no coach! The build-up is perfect, the pumpkin is enormous but the curtain comes down and we have to provide our own magic.

Very well-known stories with a long history of telling are safe box office but tricky to change.

Choreographer Loughlan Prior really steps up to this challenge with not one romantic story but two. A twist of our times indeed and both couples have sumptuous dancing and passionate duets.

Mayu Tanigaito is the perfect Cinderella and completely tells us her story with excellent technical control and an expansive breadth of flow. Her Royal Messenger (he needs a better title? Or a name?), Laurynas Vejalis, is equally outstanding and totally in command of his technique with strong elevation and a very engaging manner. The Sisters, danced with vigour by Kirby Selchow and Sara Garbowski have a lot of fun. They are suitably annoying, perverse, precocious, selfish and irritating but they have lots of steps and absolutely relish their dance vocabulary.

Prince Charming (Joshua Guillmot-Rogerson) dances securely but struggles with the interpretation of his role and with his relationship with his mother the Queen, danced imperiously by Clytie Campbell.  I struggle with the identities and characterisations of the Stepmother, Prince Dashing and the Fairy Godmother. Even in the context of an extravaganza – the story needs to hold to its narrative and for this to work the characters need to be more fully drawn. As an audience I feel we are rather too reliant on the superficial.

This production is picture book pages and episodic with some clever scenes that really stand out – finding a foot to fit the silver shoe and the ‘Fab Five’ dress makers are masterful moments. As mentioned, the pas de deux also are beautifully measured and passionate. When all the elements connect with dancing that excites and challenges, this Cinderella sparkles.

It is a big and generous choreography and is indeed a ‘Happy Ever After’ ending. We leave the theatre happy to have been there and elevated by the energy on stage.

Best wishes go with the company as they set off on tour to captivate audiences around the country.

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Cinderella - a fine balance of joyful self awareness

Review by Brigitte Knight 05th Aug 2022

Cinderella: ‘a fine balance of joyful self-awareness’

Brigitte Knight17:46, Aug 04 2022

Cinderella, Royal New Zealand Ballet, accompanied by Orchestra Wellington, choreographer Loughlan Prior, St James Theatre, until August 6. Reviewed by Brigitte Knight.

The Royal New Zealand Ballet’s ‘dream team’ of choreographer Loughlan Prior and composer Claire Cowan return with their largest and most ambitious project to date.

Perfectly timed to coincide with the reopening of Wellington’s St James Theatre, it is clear that with a protagonist who rescues herself, two princes, an animated tapestry, and an unconventional coach ride to the ball this Cinderella will be no restaged relic. The creative team have struck a fine balance of joyful self-awareness of the classical narrative ballet form; celebrating the best elements and moving on from the problematic ones. The result is a queer, feminist ballet simultaneously timeless in setting and contemporary in feel. In reconsidering the Cinderella story, Prior ensures beloved elements are maintained while pop culture references and humour are woven throughout.

Developed collaboratively with set, costume and visual effects partners Emma Kingsbury and POW Studios Cinderella is cohesive, holistically crafted, and resoundingly spectacular. From the animated façade of the St James to the expansive staging and concept, Cinderella feels akin to modern musical theatre, igniting the narrative in 3D and challenging the boundaries of the proscenium. Similarly, Cowan’s original score is rooted in the classical, but enriched and expanded by her cinematic style and eclectic musical influences. An exuberant Orchestra Wellington conducted by Hamish McKeich wield contrasting time periods, genre and instruments with vibrancy and panache.

Sparked by the feminist poetry of Amanda Lovelace and embracing the concept of contrast, Kingsbury’s sets and costumes give the designer an active and effective presence in the ballet. At the heart of Cinderella are the dancers, and Prior’s collection of characters developed with his lovely pithy humour. Mayu Tanigaito as Cinderella is magnificent; her emotional range and virtuosic classical technique drive the ballet’s narrative arc, and ensure the audience is behind her every step of the way. Partnered by Laurynas Vėjalis as the Royal Messenger this casting seamlessly matches two artists with inimitable elevation and control. Adorable and quietly courageous, Joshua Guillemot-Rodgerson as Prince Charming, and Shae Berney as his soulmate Prince Dashing, gives rise to Cinderella’s most innovative choreography. The romantic pas de deux between two men presented free from farce or parody is a milestone for the classical ballet canon. Stepsisters Sara Garbowski and Kirby Selchow are a dynamic duo, brilliantly entertaining and flawlessly funny, while The Fab Five are an instant hit. Underneath the vibrant production values and astute dark comedy, Cinderella is a celebration of individuality, authenticity, and the courage to seek your own ‘happy ever after’.

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