Male Cinderella for new Scottish Ballet production
- Published
Who will be Cinders? There will be two versions of the ballet, one with a male in the lead role and the other featuring the traditional female
Scottish Ballet is retelling the story of the classic fairytale Cinderella - with a man in the lead role.
Audiences attending the production of Cinders will not know until the curtain goes up whether the main character will be a man or a woman.
One version will be traditional - with a female Cinderella being swept off her feet by her Prince Charming.
But in the other, a male Cinders will be rescued from a life of drudgery by his princess.
The female will wear the ballgown, regardless of whether she is playing Cinders or the princess that falls in love with the male Cinders.
The ballet company claims the break in tradition is a world first.
The ballet, set in a draper's store at the turn of the 20th Century, will feature an art-nouveau inspired set with the traditional score by Sergei Prokofiev.
While there will not be an LGBTQ+ coupling for Cinders, Scottish Ballet said there would be a gay love story blossoming in the background for some of the other characters.
Artistic director Christopher Hampson (directing Bethany Kingsley-Garner and Jerome Anthony Barnes) said he was delivering a "classic Cinders for today"
Scottish Ballet's artistic director and chief executive, Christopher Hampson, said: "I'm delighted to be bringing this fresh approach to such a well-known fairytale. I have always believed Prokofiev essentially composed a love story, yet full of wit and humour, which underpins this new production.
"I'm enjoying the playfulness of searching for who guides the narrative and who drives the dream. Collaborating with Elin Steele [designer] and the ever-adventurous dancers; we are coming together to deliver a classic Cinders for today."
Principal dancer Bruno Michiardi said swapping the roles of the Cinderella leads made the ballet fee "different and new".
He said: "We all know and love the classic story of Cinderella, but this new version means we're suddenly working in this amazing upside-down realm, where the male part - previously a more traditionally stoic character - is a complex mixture of vulnerability and resilience, and the female role - usually quite timid and downtrodden for most of the original ballet - is empowered and full of charisma.
"I'm excited at the prospect of exploring this further and sharing that with the audience."
'New twist'
Guest principal dancer Jessica Fyfe added that she had found working on the production "very exhilarating".
"To give this new fluidity to the leading roles means exploring ways in which the character Cinders, traditionally the 'poor' Cinderella, can be a person of grit, determination and strength, which ultimately leads to them creating their own happy ending.
"I hope the audience enjoys this new twist on a beautiful classic, which now highlights how anyone can have a hand at shaping their own future. It's not just for fairytales."
Scottish Ballet, which was founded in 1969, will begin its tour of Cinders at Glasgow's Theatre Royal on 9 December, before heading to Edinburgh's Festival Theatre, Her Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen, Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, and ending at Newcastle's Theatre Royal on 10 February.
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