
Principal Artist Robyn Hendricks, Cinderella (Ratmansky), 2019
Photo Jeffy Busby
The last time The Australian Ballet performed Cinderella was the Alexei Ratmansky version in 2019, how does the Storytime Ballet version differ from the mainstage?
I LOVE Alexei’s production. It was so creative but also emotional and echoes the music so perfectly. Storytime Ballet is a very different experience as we want to introduce the young audience to the magic of ballet, so it has more of a Disney feel, but also has its own internal logic and will hopefully appeal to our discerning new ballet goers.
When creating new choreography do you have an idea before you go into the studio, or do you work things out on the floor?
I map out each scene and what I want to achieve with the storytelling but tend to have the steps flow in the room with the dancers. That's where we find some motif steps for each character and work from there. For me, it is the music which really inspires the steps, and we have a beautiful recording especially made for us by Orchestra Victoria conducted by Jonathan Lo.