cinderella - Royal Winnipeg Ballet

Former Principal Dancers Vanessa Lawson (1997 – 2013) and Jaime Vargas (2004 - 2010) in the 2009 Production of A Cinderella Story PHOTO: David Cooper
VAL CANIPAROLI’S
A
CINDERELLA
STORY
STUDY GUIDE
Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet
T-B Gweneth Lloyd, Betty Farrally, Her majesty Princess Elizabeth’s visit to Winnipeg
includes a command performance which introduces her to The Winnipeg Ballet (1951)
Company Dancers
PHOTO: Réjean
Brandt Photography
ABOUT
Gweneth Lloyd and Betty Farrally founded Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet
School nearly 75 years ago. The two women met when Lloyd was running
a dance school in Leeds, England and Farrally was her student. They both
immigrated to Canada in 1938, and settled in Winnipeg. There they offered
dance classes to the community – starting out with only six students in their
first year. Word quickly spread, however, and by year two their enrolment had
grown and they were able to establish the “Winnipeg Ballet Club.”
By 1943, The Winnipeg Ballet was formed with all of its dancers coming
from the Club. Six years later, the Company officially became a not-for-profit
cultural institution. In 1951, the Company was invited to perform for then
Princess Elizabeth during her visit to Winnipeg, just prior to her becoming
Queen of England. Following her coronation in 1953, she bestowed The
Winnipeg Ballet’s “Royal” designation.
Between the Royal Winnipeg Ballet (RWB) School’s two divisions of study, there
is a place for virtually every type of dance student: from preschoolers to adults,
those new to dance and those aspiring to become professional dancers.
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STUDY GUIDE
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PREPARING To see the ballet
This booklet is designed to enhance the student’s experience at Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s performance
of Val Caniparoli’s A Cinderella Story. The activities and information included are organized to help students prepare,
understand, enjoy, and respond to their experience watching the performance.
DURING THE PERFORMANCE:
Enjoy the ballet! As part of the audience, your attendance is as essential to the ballet
performance as the dancers themselves. Prior to arriving at the theatre, discuss
proper audience etiquette using the keywords below. These steps will help students
handle their feelings and enthusiasm appropriately. It is also very important to arrive
on time or even early for the performance in order to allow enough time to settle in
and focus on the performance.
CONCENTRATION: Always sit still and watch in a quiet, concentrated way. This
supports the dancers so that they can do their best work on stage.
AFTER THE
PERFORMANCE:
Process and respond
to the performance
by engaging in class
discussions or writing a
letter to the RWB. We love
to get feedback from our
student groups.
WRITE TO:
QUIET: Auditoriums are designed to carry sound so that the performers can be
heard, which also means that any sound in the audience (whispering, laughing,
rustling papers or speaking) can be heard by dancers and other audience members.
Your movement or checking your phone and texting disrupts the performance for
everyone, so always ensure that phones and other electronic devices are turned off
during the entire performance.
RESPECT: By watching quietly and attentively you show respect for the dancers. The
Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet
380 Graham Avenue
Winnipeg, MB, R3C 4K2
E groupsales@rwb.org
facebook.com/RWBallet
twitter.com/RWBallet
dancers show respect for you (the audience) and for the art of dance by doing their very
best work.
APPRECIATION: Do clap at the end of a dance (when there is a pause in the music) if
you feel like showing your appreciation.
instagram.com/RWBallet
pinterest.com/RWBallet
At Canada’s Royal Winnipeg
Ballet, our mandate is:
RWB Company Dancers
PHOTO: Samanta
Katz
“To enrich the human experience by
teaching, creating and performing
outstanding dance.”
Whether touring the world’s stages,
visiting schools, offering rigorous
dance classes for all experience
levels, or performing at Ballet in
the Park each summer, the RWB
consistently delivers world class
dance and instruction to the citizens
of Winnipeg and far beyond.
Find out more about us at rwb.org.
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STUDY GUIDE
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ABOUT
Ballet
Marie Camargo, with her ankles exposed
The First Ballet
In 16th century France and
Italy, royalty competed to
have the most splendid
court. Monarchs
would search for and
employ the best poets,
musicians and artists.
At this time, dancing
became increasingly
theatrical. This form of
entertainment, also called
the ballet de court (court
ballet), featured elaborate
scenery and lavish
costumes, plus a series
of processions, poetic
speeches, music and
dancing. The first known
ballet, Le Ballet comique de
la Reine, was performed at
court in 1581 by the Queen
of France (and her ladies)
at her sister’s wedding.
The Sun King
In the 17th century,
the popularity and
development of ballet
could be attributed to
King Louis XIV of France.
He took dancing very
seriously and trained daily
with his dance master,
Pierre Beauchamp. One
of the King’s famous
roles was the Rising Sun
which led him to become
known as the “Sun King.”
King Louis also set up
the Academie Royale de
Danse (Royal Academy of
Dance) in 1661, where, for
the first time, steps were
structurally codified and
recorded by Beauchamp.
These are the same steps
that have been handed
down through centuries,
and which now form the
basis of today’s classical
ballet style.
The First
Professional Dancers
At first, ballets were
performed at the Royal
Court, but in 1669 King
Louis opened the first
opera house in Paris.
Ballet was first viewed
publicly in the theatre
as part of the opera.
The first opera featuring
ballet, entitled Pomone,
included dances created
by Beauchamp. Women
participated in ballets at
court, but were not seen
in the theatre until 1681.
Soon, as the number of
performances increased,
courtiers who danced
for a hobby gave way to
professional dancers who
trained longer and harder.
The physical movement
of the first professional
dancers was severely
hindered by their lavish
and weighty costumes
and headpieces. They also
wore dancing shoes with
tiny heels, which made it
rather difficult to dance
with pointed toes.
Revealing Feet and Ankles
Early in the 18th century
in Paris, the ballerina,
Marie Camargo, shocked
audiences by shortening
her skirts to just above the
ankle. She did this to be
freer in her movements
DID YOU KNOW … ?
Dancing ballet puts
a lot of wear on a
dancer’s shoes. Some
dancers need to get
new shoes every week!
and allow the audience to
see her intricate footwork
and complex jumps, which
often rivaled those of the
men. Ballet companies
were now being set up
all over France to train
dancers for the opera. The
first official ballet company
(a collection of dancers
who train professionally)
was based at the Paris
Opera and opened in 1713.
The Pointe Shoe
By 1830, ballet as a
theatrical art form
truly came into its own.
Influenced by the Romantic
Movement, which was
sweeping the world of
art, music, literature and
philosophy, ballet took
on a whole new look. The
ballerina ruled supreme.
Female dancers now
wore calf-length, white,
bell-shaped tulle skirts.
To enhance the image of
the ballerina as light and
ethereal, the pointe shoe
was introduced, enabling
women to dance on the
tips of their toes.
Classical Ballet
Although the term
“classical” is often used to
refer to traditional ballet,
this term really describes
a group of story ballets
first seen in Russia at the
end of the 19th century.
At this time, the centre of
ballet moved from France
to Russia. In Russia, the
French choreographer
Marius Petipa collaborated
with the Russian composer
Pyotr Tchaikovsky to create
the lavish story ballet
spectacles such as Swan
Lake, The Sleeping Beauty
and The Nutcracker. Today,
these ballets still form the
basis of the classical ballet
repertoire of companies all
over the world.
One Act Ballets
In 1909, the Russian
impresario Serge
Diaghilev brought
together a group of
dancers, choreographers,
composers, artists
and designers into his
company, the Ballets
Russes. This company
took Paris by storm as
it introduced, instead
of long story ballets in
the classical tradition,
short one act ballets
such as, Schéhérazade,
Les Sylphides, The Rite
of Spring, Firebird and
Petrouchka. Some of the
worlds greatest dancers,
including Anna Pavlova
(1881-1931), Vasslav
Nijinsky (1889-1950) and
choreographers Mikhail
Fokine (1880-1942) and
George Balanchine
(1904-1983) were part of
Diaghilev’s company.
SEE FOR YOURSELF!
Do a search for images of ballet
dancers throughout the ages.
Can you notice the differences
in costumes over time? What do
most dancers wear today?
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THE LIFE OF A DANCER
The career of a dancer is relatively short and it is not
unusual to spend more years training than dancing
professionally. As in Olympic-level sport, the movements
demanded of the human body in ballet are very specific
and require great precision and care. For that reason, the
physique must be prepared for a professional ballet career
at a young age.
The professional training period usually consists of at least
seven years of intensive, precise work. Ideally, girls and boys
should begin their professional training by age ten. Training
is a very progressive process. The young professional
student begins with daily classes, practicing the basic ballet
positions and movements, learning body placement and
how to move through the space with balance and artistry.
As the student progresses, time spent in classes each week
increases, as do the difficulty and extensiveness of the skills
taught. In addition to daily class in classical technique,
students also receive instruction in variation (solo) work,
pointe (dancing on the toes), pas de deux (a dance for two),
character (ethnic), jazz and modern dance.
Sophia Lee PHOTO: Réjean Brant Photography
Prior to the introduction of pointe work, a number of criteria
must be considered. These include the amount of previous
training, a dancer’s strength and ability, as well as age as
it relates to the bone development in the dancer’s feet. Pas
de deux and repertoire (the collection of different ballets
a dance company performs) are introduced only when the
student has adequate strength, ability and training.
Students who graduate to a professional ballet company
usually begin dancing as a member of the corps de ballet
(ensemble). After a few years, corps de ballet members
whose artistry, technical ability, musicality and ability to
communicate with the audience set them apart may be
promoted to first or second soloist. Finally, the highest
achievement in the company, the position of principal
dancer, is attainable by only a few select dancers.
ESTABLISHING DANCE IN NORTH AMERICA
Almost all contemporary ballet companies and dancers are influenced by Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes. The first visit by
this company to North America in 1916-1917 stimulated great interest in ballet. Dancers from the Ballets Russes
were instrumental in furthering this new interest in ballet. For example, dancer George Balanchine went to the
United States and founded the New York City Ballet (originally called the American Ballet). He became renowned
for perfecting the abstract ballet and for establishing neo-classicism through his choreographic masterpieces such
as Serenade, Agon and Concerto Barocco. Ninette de Valois and Marie Rambert also went on to found, respective,
England’s Royal Ballet and the Rambert Dance Company. It is from these English roots that two English Women,
Gweneth Lloyd and Betty Farally, founded the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in 1939 (the oldest ballet company in Canada).
Celia Franca also came to Canada and in 1951, she founded The National Ballet of Canada in Toronto. Some of the
worlds greatest dancers, including Anna Pavlova (1881-1931), Vasslav Nijinsky (1889-1950) and choreographers
Mikhail Fokine (1880-1942) and George Balanchine (1904-1983) were part of Diaghilev’s company.
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BALLET
Shoes
THE POINTE SHOE
SLIPPERS, BOOTS AND SHOES
Proper footwear is the most important piece of attire for
ballet dancers. There are many different kinds of dance
shoes, including ballet slippers, character shoes/boots
and jazz shoes. Perhaps the most well-known shoe is
the pointe shoe (the shoes for dancing on the toes) of
the female dancer. Making pointe shoes is a difficult
and precise art. For each size of pointe shoe, there is
a basic form called the last, upon which the shoe is
molded. Sizes generally range from 1 1⁄2 to 5 1⁄2. To build
the shoe, the shoemaker uses several layers of fabric,
starting with a cotton lining and a flannel-type fabric
to form the slipper. In the toe section, seven fabrics of
varying thickness are bonded together into a block form
with special glue. Finally, the shoe is covered with satin,
glued together, dried and stitched for strength.
Male dancers wear a soft ballet slipper, a tightly
fitting shoe made of fabric or leather. The slipper
has a pleated toe rather than the hard fabric block of
the pointe shoe, and a pair will usually last from one
to three weeks. Women also dance in the soft ballet
slippers in roles where no pointe work is required.
Each individual dancer has specific requirements for her
shoes. For example, the width of the block required may
vary from dancer to dancer. The vamp (length of the shoe
covering the toe), the width and height of the heel and
the stiffness of the leather sole may also be tailored to fit
an individual dancer’s needs. (It is interesting to note that
there is no designated left or right shoe in the pair.) The
shoemaker will put his mark on each completed shoe,
along with the size and brand name. Dancers come to
rely on a specific maker and are usually hesitant to have
anyone else make their shoes. Most pointe shoes are a
basic pink colour and can be painted or dyed to match a
particular costume.
A character or jazz shoe is worn in many modern
ballets. The female character shoe is very much like
a street shoe and comes in similar sizes. It has a low
heel and a strap or tie to secure it to the foot. The
men’s shoe also resembles a street shoe but has a
soft sole like that of a ballet slipper. The jazz shoe
worn by both male and female dancers resembles a
flat street shoe, but is actually a specialized dancing
shoe. Some ballets also require dancers to wear soft
leather designed boots.
Dancers also make further adjustments to a completed
pointe shoe. Some dancers prefer the sole to be more
flexible and the box to be much softer than those in
a brand new shoe. A number of methods, such as
beating the shoe on the floor, slamming the pointe in
a doorframe or even pounding it with a hammer will
achieve the softening desired! Dancers sew their own
ribbons on the shoes, and in some cases, sew on elastics
to help hold the shoe securely to the foot. Dancers keep
their shoes clean using a special cleaning fluid. All of this
care is taken for shoes that will probably last for only a
few performances, and often, if a particular role calls for
a great deal of pointe work, for only one performance. A
dancer rehearsing a role calling for a lot of pointe work
could go through four to six pairs a week, with each pair
costing approximately $75.
Amanda Green PHOTO: Aleli Estrada
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OTHER FORMS OF DANCE
Modern or contemporary dance originated in the United
States and Europe in the 19th century in opposition
to the classic-academic dance (or danse d’école) as
set up by Beauchamp in the French court of Louis XIV.
The first pioneers of modern dance were interested in
breaking away from the rigid forms of classical ballet.
Isadora Duncan (1877–1927) for example, was inspired
by Greek dances of antiquity; she danced barefoot and
wore revealing costumes. Ruth St. Denis (1879–1968)
was inspired by eastern art. With modern dance,
movement became freer. For example, in modern dance
the torso can move without restriction whereas in ballet,
the back is almost always held straight. In modern
dance, movements also became more “earth-bound”,
as opposed to ballet where movements are light and
“air-bound”.
Jazz dancing, like jazz music, evolved from African tribal
dances and rhythms. African-Americans adapted the
African dance technique of isolating individual moving
parts of the body to the needs of their new social
surroundings. The name “jazz” first surfaced in 1917.
During the 1920s North Americans introduced jazz
into various forms of vaudeville show business, eagerly
adopting this style.
Character dance is a general term for all kinds of
dance that reside outside the bounds of the classicacademic dance, which derive from traditional and
national sources. Character dance is usually done as
a form of entertainment for an audience. Examples
include the Italian Tarantella, Hungarian Czardas and
the Polish Mazurka.
Folk dance has developed within the traditional
environment of ethnic peoples. Coined in the 18th
century, “folk dance” is a term that differentiates
“dances of the people” from the more regulated dance
of higher social classes. Folk dance occurs primarily
for its own inherent enjoyment or for an attached
social significance, rather than for an audience.
American Square dancing and English Morris dancing
are two typical examples of folk dance.
As you can see, the world of dance is an
interconnected whole with a rich history of tradition
which has been passed down from generation to
generation. Within the dance world there are no
boundaries of nationality or race, making the art of
dance a truly global experience.
RWB Professional Division Students PHOTO: Leif Norman
Other forms of dance include modern, jazz, character
and folk dance. Each of these forms has unique historical
characteristics and artistic ideology. While classicism
still plays a major role in most North American
ballets, many choreographers incorporate these other
techniques to introduce variation into their work.
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A CINDERELLA STORY
Synopsis
CHOREOGRAPHY: Val Caniparoli
MUSIC ARRANGEMENTS & ORCHESTRATIONS: Ron Paley
SCENIC AND COSTUME DESIGN: Sandra Woodall
LIBRETTO: Sheryl Flatow & Val Caniparoli
LIGHTING AND SOUND DESIGN: Alexander V. Nichols
CHARACTERS
A young man accustomed to being the centre of
attention
Nancy discovers that her father must leave again
on business, and they bid each other a bittersweet
goodbye. The servants, having been inhumanely
overworked by the stepmother, are so frazzled that they
quit. Nancy is left with the responsibility of cleaning the
house. Her stepsisters are enjoying the television, now
in their control, when the program they are watching is
interrupted with tragic news.
DOG
SCENE II: THE FAMILY ESTATE–A FEW DAYS LATER
NANCY
A young woman whose life is like a Cinderella story
BOB
Nancy’s faithful companion
FATHER
A wealthy entrepreneur who travels for business
STEPMOTHER
An aristocrat and haughty gold-digger
STEPSISTERS
The stepfamily devises a plan to poison the dog, who
outsmarts them and escapes. Nancy searches for him,
to no avail. Her search is interrupted when the doorbell
rings and a messenger appears with invitations to the
big winter dance.
SCENE III: THE DANCE STUDIO
ACT I
The stepfamily heads off to a dance class to brush up
on their skills before the big event. The stepmother
forbids Nancy from attending, but she defiantly follows
them. The class is in progress when a handsome young
man named Bob appears in the doorway. Every woman
in the room is spellbound. All the women vie for his
attention, none more so than Nancy.
PROLOGUE:
SCENE IV: THE FAMILY ESTATE
The hum of the television is an almost constant
presence and source of delight for Nancy, a solitary
young woman whose mother has passed away
and whose father is frequently gone on business.
Although she is often alone, she is not lonely; she
has the companionship of her faithful dog and the
household staff, all of whom dote on her. And she
spends hours in front of the television, which sparks
her imagination – particularly the announcement
of the upcoming broadcast of Rodgers and
Hammerstein’s Cinderella.
The stepmother and stepsisters primp and prepare for
the big evening. As the three women are about to leave,
Nancy emerges from her room, ready to accompany
them. But her stepmother orders her to stay home and
continue working. Left alone, Nancy cannot hide her
desolation. In the depths of her misery, her godmother
appears.
Spoiled and mean brats
THE GODMOTHER
Who makes wishes come true
SCENE I: THE FAMILY ESTATE
The servants busy themselves, happily preparing for
the return of Nancy’s father from his most recent
trip. No one is more excited than Nancy. But a chill
descends when she sees that her father is not
alone; he is accompanied by a new wife, her two
daughters and her ever-present cat. The new family
uneasily gets acquainted.
SCENE V: A GARDEN
The godmother uses her special gifts to transport
Nancy to a magical garden filled with enchanting
creatures – all of whom look vaguely familiar. Together
with the godmother, the animals lovingly transform
Nancy into the belle of the ball. The godmother warns
her that she must leave the dance before midnight,
for at that time the magic will reverse itself. The girl
happily agrees, and under the light of a blue moon,
departs for the dance.
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ACT II
SCENE I: THE STARLIGHT BALLROOM
The dance is in full swing when Bob makes his
entrance; once again he takes over the room. At last
Nancy arrives, and time seems to stop. She appears
vaguely familiar to Bob, and as he gazes on her now,
he is smitten. When at last they meet, they heat up
the evening with a pas de deux.
Nancy and Bob have eyes only for each other. Nancy
loses track of time, and is shocked when she hears
the first of twelve gongs counting down to midnight.
As the last gong sounds, she runs into the open
elevator with Bob in pursuit.
SCENE II: A CORNER OF THE ESTATE /
SOMEWHERE IN A PARK
Unbeknownst to each other, Bob and Nancy
simultaneously reminisce about the evening and
their lost love.
SCENE III: THE FAMILY ESTATE
It’s the day after the dance, and the stepsisters,
consumed by jealousy, torment Nancy with renewed
vigor. As the stepmother intervenes, they all stop to
listen to a special television announcement about a
Synopsis Continued
handsome young heir who is asking his mystery woman
to rendezvous with him that evening in the ballroom.
The stepmother and stepsisters have the same thought;
they cannot let Nancy out of the house. Before the
unsuspecting girl realizes what is happening, the
stepfamily is upon her and ties her up. They believe that
with Nancy out of the way, they have a chance with Bob.
But after they leave, an old friend returns to set Nancy
free.
SCENE IV: THE BALLROOM
Bob is alone in the ballroom, when the elevator doors
open and a mob of young women swoop down on him.
Each girl has done her best to look like Nancy, in the
belief that she can trick Bob into believing she is his
lost love. But no one dances like his mystery woman.
Suddenly the elevator doors open again and Nancy
appears.
SCENE V: A GARDEN
The godmother, with assistance from the animals,
again transforms the surroundings into a magnificent
outdoor setting. A gold moon shines down. As the
stepmother and her daughters leave town, Nancy and
Bob settle in to watch Rodgers and Hammerstein’s
Cinderella.… And they lived happily ever after.
Serena Sanford in the 2009 production of A Cinderella Story
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CINDERELLA
The History
BY: Sheryl Flatow - Librettist
Cinderella may well be the most durable and
popular heroine ever created. Every country, every
culture, every generation and every genre can lay
claim to her, even though she might go by a different
name and face travails that share few similarities
to the Charles Perrault fairy tale or Walt Disney’s
animated movie.
It’s been estimated that some 1,500 variations on
the story exist, dating at least as far back as the
ninth century to a Chinese folk tale called Yu Yang
Ts Tsu. In that version the girl is named Yeh-hsien,
and over 1,100 years later, some of the details of the
story are strikingly familiar; a wicked stepmother,
a wish granted, a ball, a lost shoe, a prince. A short
list of other cultures and countries with a claim on
the story includes Russia, Norway, Serbia, Greece,
Denmark, Portugal, the Middle East, Chile, India,
Vietnam, Japan, Scotland, Ireland, England, Italy and
the Himalayas. There is a Canadian version about
a Native American warrior named Strong Wind,
“known for his wondrous deeds,” who marries the
youngest of three sisters, a mistreated, Cinderellalike figure. Countless movies and/or plays are
indebted to this timeless tale, including Pygmalion,
The Slipper and the Rose, Maid in Manhattan,
My Fair Lady, Sabrina Fair (stage), Sabrina (film),
The Glass Slipper, Ella Enchanted, Working Girl,
Pretty Woman, Ever After, and the gender-bending
Cinderfella, with Jerry Lewis in the title role. There
are operas by Massenet (Cendrillon) and Gioachino
Rossini (La Cenerentola). And ever since Serge
Prokofiev composed his superb score for ballerina
Galina Ulanova and choreographer Leonid Lavrovsky
60 years ago, numerous productions have been
mounted by ballet companies all over the world –
but not until October 2004 by Royal Winnipeg Ballet.
Artistic Director André Lewis had long hoped to
give the Company a Cinderella of its own. But he
wanted a fresh take, a deviation from the standard
production. So when he invited Val Caniparoli to
choreograph a full-length Cinderella for RWB, his
one stipulation was that the music for the ballet be
something other than Prokofiev.
Val was immediately intrigued. Despite his
admiration for Prokofiev, he was not interested
in following the blueprint for the ballet laid out in
the music or working on a composition that had
been used by so many other choreographers. He
has always challenged himself musically and he
wanted to set his ballet to a score that was unexpected,
creating from the ground up a more contemporary
Cinderella.
At the same time that he was asked to choreograph
Cinderella, Val received an invitation to contribute
a piece to a gala benefit program celebrating the
centennial of Richard Rodgers’ birth in 2002. Knowing
he is a fan of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella,
I suggested he consider that score for his ballet. His
response was an emphatic no. But in the process of
choosing material to use for the gala, he began to
warm to the notion of Cinderella danced to Rodgers
music. He invited me to write the libretto for the ballet,
and work with him on selecting music.
Val wanted to use just a few songs from Rodgers and
Hammerstein’s Cinderella – from the very beginning,
he did not want to be beholden to that material –
and essentially create a new score culled from the
composer’s body of work. We listened to dozens of
CDs, and it quickly became apparent to both of us that
much of the Rodgers and Hammerstein canon had
to be eliminated from consideration. We didn’t want
songs that were overly familiar, or so intertwined with
a specific show that they’d seem out of place in the
ballet. “Some Enchanted Evening,” for instance, might
seem like the perfect song for Cinderella to meet her
prince, but it’s so well-known and so inexorably linked
to South Pacific that we didn’t think it would work in a
different context. The same was true for numbers like
“You’ll Never Walk Alone,” “Climb Every Mountain” and
on and on.
So we focused on the classic songs of Rodgers and
Hart, most of which were written in the 1920s and ’30s.
Dozens of these songs are standards, but because
most were written for shows that are today unknown
and un-revivable, most people, sadly, are not familiar
with them. And when the songs are known, they are not
associated with the musical in which they originated.
This gave us carte blanche to choose the most
appropriate material. As we listened to these witty,
sexy, funny, wistful, heartbreaking, elegant, jazzy songs,
we realized they had all the colours and emotions we
hoped for in the ballet. Ultimately we decided not to use
the Cinderella score; with just a few exceptions, most of
the songs heard in the ballet were written by Rodgers
and Hart.
Yet that 1957 telecast of Cinderella informs the entire
ballet. Television was still a novelty in the ’50s, when
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CINDERELLA
The History Continued
people would happily sit and stare at test patterns. So
a musical written by Rodgers and Hammerstein, then
the most famous songwriting team in the world, and
starring Julie Andrews, who had leaped to stardom
a year earlier in My Fair Lady, generated a level of
excitement unfathomable today.
song was chosen. (There’s a song called “This Funny
World” that begins, “A mop, a broom, a pail,” which we
were originally considering using. But we were certain
that just about no one would know the verse begins with
those words, and the joke would be lost. The song didn’t
make the cut.)
A Cinderella Story is set in 1957, and unlike the
telecast or most versions of the Prokofiev ballet,
we strove to create an immediacy and familiarity,
beginning with the characters names: no Cinderella,
no Prince, just Nancy and Bob. Along with set and
costume designer Sandra Woodall, and lighting and
sound designer Alexander V. Nichols, we wanted this
version of Cinderella to convey a heightened – and
very elegant – sense of reality. The iconic image for
all of us was Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina, and Sandra
was particularly inspired by the couture houses of
the ’50s, by Givenchy, Dior and Balenciaga. Ordinary
sights and sounds further help establish a very real
sense of time and place, which in turn will hopefully
make the surprises that much more surprising, and
the magic that much more magical.
Val wanted the music arranged into a blues and
jazz score, and when he met Winnipeg pianist and
bandleader Ron Paley and heard him play a few bars,
he knew that no one was better suited for the job.
“Ron’s contribution to the ballet cannot be overstated,”
he says. “His work is incredible.” Despite the jazzy
nature of the score, A Cinderella Story is very much a
classical ballet, albeit one that encompasses various
forms of ballroom dancing.
A Cinderella Story costume designs by Sandra Woodall
Once we had an outline for the story, we began to
select the music. Although there are no vocals,
we tried to pick songs with lyrics that in some way
match the moment, so that anyone familiar with the
words would understand the reason a particular
“It’s so interesting to me how many different
permutations there are of Cinderella,” Val says. “And
regardless of how the story is told, it always seems to
strike a chord. I hope this ballet will be reassuringly
familiar to people, in the sense that it’s got the
stepfamily and the lost shoe and the ball and magic and
romance – just like that Chinese story had a thousand
years ago. But at the same time I hope everything about
the ballet is a constant surprise; the story, the music,
the choreography. I want to meet people’s expectations,
and surpass them.”
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THE GOLDEN ERA
A population explosion, known as the Baby Boom, drove
the expansion of iconic North American-style suburbs
of sprawling individual family homes. Developers such
as William J. Levitt produced enormous numbers of
identical suburban homes cheaply, allowing a growing
middle class to purchase their own home to house their
expanding families. As the population moved out of city
centres, new businesses sprung up in the suburbs, and
so the shopping mall was born.
In fashion a move away from wartime rationing and
conservatism saw greater excess and experimentation.
New synthetic fabrics brought new possibilities.
Luxury items like washing machines, refrigerators,
and televisions became common symbols of economic
status. Suburbanization led to an explosion of
automobile sales and manufacturing, and the rise
of ‘hot rod’ culture.
With this new-found prosperity, more and more
North Americans defined themselves as middle class.
Although the boom exhausted itself in the 1960’s, this
period was formative in the North American psyche and
remains a much lauded Golden Era of North American
culture today.
Aerial view of Levittown circa 1959
During the 1950’s the economic austerity of World War II
was replaced with one of the largest booms in American
history. This era, sometimes called Post-War America,
saw a surge in wealth and consumerism in contrast to
the insidious backdrop of the Cold War.
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THE MEDIUM
IS THE MESSAGE
The Golden Age of Television encompassed the 1950’s
and 1960’s as television became the dominant form of
home entertainment in America. Famous series such as
The Twilight Zone and I Love Lucy aired along with film
classics like The Wizard of Oz and Shakespearean plays.
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella aired on CBS on
March 31, 1957, to an audience of more than 107 million
viewers. The 1957 version wasn’t recorded, but a remake
was launched in 1965 which was so popular it became
the most watched non-sports special to air on CBS
television until its record was broken in 2009.
Marshall McLuhan, the Canadian philosopher and
communication theorist, coined the phrase ‘the medium
is the message’ in his book Understanding Media:
The Extensions of Man, published in 1964, to describe
the interconnected relationship between content and
its medium. The medium not only changes how we
perceive content, it changes the content itself. Consider
how television might influence the color of costumes
(designers might opt for costuming that shows well on
screen, for example) or how a story may be redacted to
fit within a timeslot, like when a book is adapted into a
movie. Ballet, by comparison, uses a certain repertoire
of dance and relies on movement and mime, rather than
dialogue, to tell a story.
Family watching television 1958 Images of American Political History. Posting online by Dr. William J. Ball
Television was a transformative force in mid-century
North America, and this relationship is at the heart of A
Cinderella Story. Society’s norms, values, and ways of
doing things change along with technology - think of how
the internet, cell phones, and social media have changed
the way we live.
ACTIVITY
Watch the TV version of Rogers and Hammerstein’s
Cinderella and consider how television influenced the
classic story. By comparison, how does ballet shape
the story? Is one medium more suited than the other?
MODERN ADAPTATIONS OF CLASSIC STORIES
They say there are no new stories. Can you match these stage and film re-makes with the original stories that inspired them?
A West Side Story
Ever After
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Cinderella
The Odyssey
Pygmalion
CluelessEmma
10 Things I Hate About You
My Fair Lady
Romeo and Juliet
The Taming of the Shrew
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CLASSROOM
Activities
At the end of the story, Bob and Nancy sit down in
front of the television to live happily ever after. What
does this say about them? What does happily ever
after mean to you?
What would Cinderella look like if it took place today?
Pick your favourite scene and act, dance, or write
out your interpretation as a screen play.
Define these terms and discuss how they relate to
the ballet:
• Americana
• Kitsch
• Jazz
• Musical
• Adaptation
• Campy
• Mime
• Self-referential
• Pop culture
• Conventional
Post-war American saw a surge in advertising – and
consumerism – as wondrous new products like
televisions, washing machines, vacuums, and shiny
new homes in the suburbs hit the market. Find
examples of advertisements from this era. What kind
of ‘happily ever after’ were they selling? Why do you
think these messages resonated?
Research western fashion from the 1950’s. Can you
see this era’s influence on fashion today? Draw and
design your own costumes for the characters from A
Cinderella Story.
How would the story be different if it were set during
out current time period?
Write a revised version of a well-known fairy tale of
your choosing. Change the characters, perspective,
settings, beginning, and ending to fit with the new
time period. Your class can assemble all of your
stories into a book.
Jo-Ann Sundermeier in the 2009 production of A Cinderella Story
Watch or read another version of Cinderella (refer to
our History of Cinderella section for inspiration) and
compare it to RWB’s A Cinderella Story. How are the
characters, plot, and settings different?
Investigate Cinderella-type stories from around the
world. Consider the cultural backgrounds and how
they affect the story and use a Venn diagram to
compare the stories to RWB’s A Cinderella Story.
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LIKE ALL LIVE PRODUCTIONS, EACH BALLET PERFORMANCE ONLY HAPPENS ONCE.
It is a combination of the performers on stage and the audiences in front of them that make each
performance unique.
For this reason, it is in the audience’s best interest to be visibly and audibly attentive and appreciative
– the better the audience, the better the performance on stage will be.
LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!
Write to: Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet | 380 Graham Avenue | Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3C 4K2
E groupsales@rwb.org