Events

Cinderella

Created by Stevan Grebel Center for Dance (See other events)
  • May 15, 2010 from 9:30am to 2:00pm
  • Location: Hoover High School Theatre
  • Latest Activity: Oct 22, 2020
Stevan Grebel choreographed Cinderella for Birmingham area audiences first in 1976 for Ballet UAB. The performances were at the BJCC Concert Hall, accompanied by the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (now ASO). He cast three different Cinderella’s and two Princes. This year’s renewal of Grebel’s Cinderella will add students of Grebel Ballet to the corps, along with the Alabama Youth Ballet Company. Added characters are the Tiny Fireflies, who light the way for Cinderella and The Fairy Godmother through the forest to the ball, and Fairy Attendants for each of the four seasons. The plot is a straightforward version of the traditional story. Cinderella has two step-sisters (often played by men, and Grebel used two men in one performance, as well as two women in another) but her step-mother doesn't appear, and instead of a 'Buttons' or 'Dandini' character the Prince has an attendant Jester. To provide more opportunities for dancing, the Fairy Godmother brings the Fairies of the Four Seasons, Dragonflies and Fireflies, to dance for Cinderella before she sets off for the ball.On this simple framework Stevan built a wonderful ballet, using a typical mix of the finest choreography with comedy, irony, and at times an underlying sense of sadness. At the heart of the piece is the meltingly beautiful pas de deux for the Prince and Cinderella at the ball. If you've seen other versions, the structure of the last act may surprise you, as the Prince's round-the-world search for Cinderella is cut entirely; and don't expect a triumphant 'wedding' pas de deux at the end - master of the understatement.
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