Libretto: Nikolai Volkov
Designer: Natalia Povago
Costumes: Natalia Povago

Performance by Moscow City Ballet

Smirnov-Golovanov’s version of this classic rags-to-riches fable has all the ingredients of the ’perfect’ ballet and a wonderful family outing to the theatre: a handsome Prince, a beautiful Fairy Godmother, lavish sets and costumes, plenty of magic and humour and an uplifting, happy ending.

Marvel as Cinderella’s life is transformed by her Prince’s true love while her nasty, scheming sisters and stepmother are left to their hum-drum fate.

Set to Prokofiev’s rich score, this traditional Russian version of this favourite fairy-tale will leave you smiling for a very long time to come.

"An elegant feast of colour, spectacle and excitement"
Halifax Evening Courier
23 November 2004

The King has a dream in which he is asked by the Fairies to marry his son, the Prince, to a beautiful girl. He is happy to agree.

ACT ONE

The Palace.
The King awakes and greets his Ministers. Remembering his dream he orders them to arrange a Grand Ball and to invite all the girls of the Kingdom. The Prince enters and his father suggests to him that he should consider marriage, but the Prince declares that he is not ready for the marriage and that there is no one he really loves.

Cinderella`s House.
Cinderella lives with her father, stepmother and two stepsisters. They have received an invitation to the ball, and the sisters demand that they be bought new dresses. Cinderella realises that she will have nothing to wear, and sits sadly by the fireplace. Her father returns with huge boxes, and Cinderella is driven away by her Stepmother as she and her daughters examine their new gowns. A dancing master arrives and tries vainly to impact some style and elegance to the dancing skills of the three ladies. Everyone leaves for the ball exept Cinderella. Suddenly her Fairy Godmother appears, accompanied by the Fairies of the four seasons. Cinderella is taught to dance beautifully, and is presented with a miraculous pink ball gown and glass slippers. Before she leaves for the ball in a golden coach, she is warned that at midnight the magic will diappear and she will be a servant girl once more.

ACT TWO

The Palace.
The Ball is in full swing. When Cinderella enters, everyone, including the Prince, is captivated by her beauty. The King gives Cinderella a huge orange, which is found to contain a diamond bracelet. The Prince then presents her with another, from which she produces a wondrous crown. Cinderella`s Stepmother and stepsisters then demand oranges of their own, which prove to be nothing more than ordinary oranges! Left alone togrther, the Prince and Cinderella declare their love, but at midnight, as foretold, Cinderella becomes a serving girl once more. She flees, leaving behind a single glass slipper. The Prince is inconsolable, as all attempts to find the owner of the slipper prove fruitless. Together with the King and his ministers, he travels first to the Island of the Corsairs and then to the Middle East, but Cinderella is nowhere to be found. He returns home.

Cinderella`s House.
Cinderella wakes and wonders if the events of the previous night were just a dream until she finds a glass slipper in the room. Her Stepmother and sisters enter and mockingly tell her of the Prince and his lost Princess. Trumpets sound, and the Royal party enters with the second glass slipper. Both sisters, then the Stepmother, try in vain to make it fit, and then to the amazement of all Cinderella produces the matching slipper. The Prince joyfully recognises her, and asks the King to bless their marriage.

The Palace.
The Prince and Cinderella are in a magical garden. They talk of their love, watched over by Fairies and the stars.

Music For Ballets Fragment 1

Schedule for Cinderella. Moscow City Ballet 2022