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Cruel and Unusual Ballet Origins

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Katherine Sonnekus
Photo Kate Longley

Exploring the grisly beginnings behind ballet’s most famous fairy tales.

Once upon a time… fairy tales weren’t always the charming technicolour dreams we know today, but had darker undertones steeped in mythic folklore. Passed down through generations of storytellers, the tales of dashing princes, enchanted castles and good triumphing over evil that modern audiences are familiar with, couldn’t be further from their gritty and gruesome genesis. This Halloween, Behind Ballet delves into the haunting stories that became some of ballet’s most beloved productions.

Cinderella

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Amber Scott, Cinderella (Ratmansky) 2016
Photo Elliott Franks

This strange folk tale of a royal falling foot-first in love with a commoner is more than two thousand years old. The earliest version of Cinderella can be traced back to between c. 7 BC and c. 24 AD when it was recorded by Greek geographer Strabo. Titled Rhodopis, the Ancient Greek account tells of an eagle who snatched the sandal from a beautiful courtesan and dropped it on an inquisitive Egyptian king who was instantly entranced by its loveliness. Moved by the strangeness of the event and the beauty of the shoe, the King sent his servants in every direction to find its owner where upon she was brought to Egypt to become his wife.

In China, the story of Cinderella first appeared during the Tang Dynasty. Written by poet Duan Chengshi, this incarnation featured Ye Xian, a young, orphaned girl who is abused by her stepmother and half-sister. Ye Xian befriends a magical fish who gives her golden shoes to wear to a festival, but when she is recognised by her stepmother, she flees, losing one of her shoes. This time, the King searches for the girl who can fit the slipper himself, finding her and bringing her back to his kingdom, and sentencing her cruel stepmother and half-sister to a violent death.

Cinderella having fitted on the glass slipper illustration by George Cruikshank 1854

Cinderella, 1854
Illustration George Cruikshank

However, it was Charles Perrault’s 1697 Cendrillon (French for Cinderella) that would become the basis for all those that followed. Perrault was the first author to include the now instantly recognisable embellishments of Cinderella’s glass slippers and a fairy tale godmother capable of turning a pumpkin into a magical carriage.

In 1812, brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm took Cinderella into more chilling territory. Their German tale, Aschenputtel, (The Little Ash Girl) replaces the fairy godmother with an enchanted graveyard tree and violent birds. At the end of the tale, Cinderella’s wicked stepsisters attempt to trick the prince into choosing them as his bride by slicing off their toes and heels to fit into the glass slippers. However, they are undone by a bird who reveals their plot to the prince and looks down to see the blood gushing from the shoes. Now crippled by their own hand, the stepsisters are inflicted with a final act of violence as the birds peck out their eyes as punishment for their wickedness.

Coppélia

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Principal Artist Benedicte Bemet with Ben Davis, Coppélia (Ogilvie and van Praagh) 2016
Photo Daniel Boud

The beloved ballet in which Dr Coppélius is tricked by young lovers Franz and Swanhilda into believing that his mechanical doll “daughter” has come to life is a light-hearted comedy. But the story it is adapted from - The Sandman by E.T.A. Hoffmann – is actually a psychological horror.

The Sandman Coppelius illustration from The Night Pieces 1817 Artist unknown

The Sandman Coppélius, The Night Pieces 1817
Illustration Unknown

A young man is haunted by childhood memories of a monster who threatens to steal the eyes of children that refuse to go to sleep. He becomes convinced that Coppélius, a violent lawyer that terrorised him as a child, is living in disguise as his neighbour. While his real-life engagement falls apart, he catches glimpses of a stunningly beautiful (and suspiciously still) woman that lives in his neighbour’s apartment and falls in love with her. Illusion and dreams collide, and his struggle to hold onto reality leads to disaster.

502069 TAB The Sleeping Beauty Mc Allister Valerie Tereshchenko Artists of TAB Credit Daniel Boud 1

Valerie Tereshchenko with artists of The Australian Ballet, The Sleeping Beauty (McAllister) 2016
Photo Daniel Boud

The Sleeping Beauty

Written in the early 12th century, the romantic tale of The Sleeping Beauty has its origins in Arthurian legend. In the epic (8 volume) poem, Perceforest, knight Troylus seeks help from three goddesses, Venus, Lucina and Themis to rescue his beloved Zellandine from a mysterious never-ending slumber.

While many aspects of the modern The Sleeping Beauty appear in this early version, including the spinning wheel and magical curse by an indignant guest, there are darker connotations around consent that end with the princess waking nine months later after giving birth to twins. This time, the Grimm brothers came through with a more PG tale, concluding their story with “true love’s kiss” that would awaken the princess for a happily ever after ending.

Modern retellings also removed a subplot about a jealous family member (sometimes the prince’s ogre mother, sometimes his first wife) who try and have the princess and her children murdered and served to the prince in a pie.

Thankfully David McAllister's opulent ballet adaptation of The Sleeping Beauty has all the fairy tale trimmings with none of the horrors.

The Sleeping Beauty returns to enchant audiences in 2025
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Grace Carroll with artists of The Australian Ballet, Swan Lake (Woolliams) 2023
Photo Kate Longley

Swan Lake

The actual origin of this iconic ballet is unclear, but stories of humans transforming into birds and back again appear in almost every folklore tradition on earth.

In Norse and Germanic legends, there are tales of swan maidens who take the form of majestic white birds by wearing swan skin cloaks. When they shed these skins, they are revealed to be beautiful young women. In these stories, a young man falls in love from a distance and then steals the swan skin so that the maiden cannot return to her bird form. After many years of marriage, her children discover the hidden feathers and hand it to their mother who immediately transforms back into a swan and flies away forever.

Giselle

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Artists of The Australian Ballet, Giselle (Gielgud) 2018
Photo Kate Longley

When Giselle dies of heartbreak, her spirit joins a vengeful group of spirits called the Wilis, the ghosts of women who were betrayed by their loves. These eerie creatures are one of many forest spirits found in Slavic folklore known as Vilas. Like nymphs or fairies, these guardians of nature are powerful beings that may grant benevolent favours…or unleash terrible wrath.

La Légende des Willis Hughes Merles 1847

La Légende des Willis, 1847
Artist Hughes Merles

The Wilis rise from their graves to dance at midnight and if any young men happen upon them in the woods, he will be forced to dance alongside them until he drops dead. This may have been inspired by the real dancing manias that plagued Europe between the 14th and 17th centuries. These bizarre occurrences caused groups of people (up to 400 during an outbreak in 16th century Strasbourg) to experience what was later defined as a mass hysteria, whereby they would dance uncontrollably for weeks until they collapsed from exhaustion or literally danced themselves to death.

The Nutcracker

371477 TAB The Nutcracker Wright Yuumi Yamada Credit Daniel Boud 1

Now a candy-coated Christmas favourite, the original fairy tale by E.T.A. Hoffmann, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, was much more disturbing. The villain is a violent mouse that terrorises Marie (renamed Clara in the ballet) by keeping her awake, threatening to bite her friend the Nutcracker into pieces unless she pays a ransom of sweets.

Nussknacker und Masoning illustration by Peter Carl Geißler c1840

While usually depicted on stage as a human-sized rat in a king’s costume, the version in the book is a monstrous seven-headed creature. This was inspired by real ‘rat-kings’ – a horrifying phenomenon where mice or rats get their tails intertwined and stuck together until they cannot escape. These were found in the walls and chimneys of households causing terror and confusion for those who discovered them.

Over the centuries, The Nutcracker has been upgraded from horror story to happily ever after, with versions in film, dance and theatre. There's even a Barbie version of The Nutcracker, that brings the festive holiday story to young audiences, ensuring its popularity for future generations.

The Australian Ballet performs The Nutcracker from 30 November - 18 December 2024 in Sydney

Discover more ballets inspired by classic literature

Literature in Motion