About the work
Sergei Prokofiev's ballet in three acts was premiered on 21 November 1945 at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, with choreography by Rostislav Zakharov. Prokofiev began composition before the Second World War and completed it afterwards; the score combines the tradition of the great Russian narrative ballet with his unmistakable blend of lyrical warmth and ironic edge. It was his second full-length ballet after Romeo and Juliet.
Plot
Cinderella is bullied by her stepmother and two grotesquely comic stepsisters and forced to perform the lowliest household chores. A good fairy disguised as a beggar woman rewards her kindness and transforms her for the prince's ball into a radiant beauty, attended by the fairies of the four seasons—but warns her to return before the stroke of midnight. The prince falls in love with the unknown woman, but she flees on the twelfth chime, losing a glass slipper. The prince travels the world to find the slipper's owner and is at last united with Cinderella.
Cultural significance
After Tchaikovsky's classics, Prokofiev's Cinderella is regarded as one of the most important Russian narrative ballets, and it is regularly reinterpreted by major companies worldwide. The famous midnight waltz and the striking of the clock are among the most powerful moments in ballet music. Choreographers such as Frederick Ashton, Rudolf Nureyev, and Alexei Ratmansky have created widely differing readings—from the traditional fairy-tale version to a Soviet-satirical interpretation.