Cinderella by Alexei Ratmansky
Perhaps the most difficult to believe element of Cinderella, isn’t the magical pumpkin carriage or fairy godmother, but the idea that a man can only recognise a woman by her shoe size. Alexei Ratmansky’s 2013 production of Cinderella commissioned especially for The Australian Ballet leant into the ridiculous aspects of the fairy tale. Switching up a pumpkin carriage for male dancers dressed as planets and leaping across the stage to whisk Cinderella to the ball and giving the ugly stepsisters plenty of slapstick choreography, Ratmansky’s steps are supported by Jérôme Kaplan’s surrealist style designs. With the only understated character being that of our heroine, even Cinderella has her comic moments, breaking the fourth wall to reveal the absurdity of her situation.