Award-winning choreographer David Bintley creates his own stunning new Cinderella fairy story, with an unsettling edge of darkness, reflecting Prokofiev"s searing score. Designer John Macfarlane conjures up a magical world to bring this much loved fairytale to life. He transforms the cold grey kitchen into a dreamlike fantasy, all magical and shimmering; the glittering coach, brought on by mice and lizards, gleams with frost; the ball scene is a feast of swirling decadence; and Cinderella vanishes at the stroke of midnight through the whirring mechanism of a simply amazing clock. The piece ends with a vast celestial body melting on to the stage.Elisha Willis" forlorn Cinderella is brutally treated by her two bullying stepsisters in their grim kitchen, encouraged by their elegant but superbly cruel mother. The sisters tread a nimble line between comedy and nastiness, while never descending to caricature. Their raucous behavior, as they attempt to attract the attention of every eligible bachelor they see, is brought to life with hilariously faulty footwork. But the show is made truly heartwarming through the vision of Cinderella"s suffering being transformed into deserved joy as she meets her Prince and lives happily ever after. "This Cinderella is a theatrical banquet for the eyes" THE TELEGRAPH" ...a potent, imaginative and emotionally intoxicating version of an oft-told tale" THE STAGE" ...the real achievement is Bintley"s, for uniting a 17th-century fairy tale and a bittersweet 20th-century score in a production of real emotional resonance." GUARDIAN "In ballet terms, this is a good Cinderella; as theatre, it is sensational" EXPRESS Director and Choreographer: DAVID BINTLEY Set and Costume Designer: JOHN F. MACFARLANE Stage Lighting Design: DAVID A. FINN Music: SERGEI PROKOFIEV Cinderella: ELISHA WILLIS The Prince: IAIN MACKAY Skinny: GAYLENE CUMMERFIELD Dumpy: CAROL-ANNE MILLAR Cinderella s Stepmother: MARION TAIT The Fairy Godmother: VICTORIA MARR Spring: MOMOKO HIRATA Summer: LEI ZHAO Autumn: ANGELA PAUL Winter: DELIA MATHEWS Prince s Friends: JAMIE BOND, JOSEPH CALEY, ALEXANDER CAMPBELL, MATHIAS DINGMAN ROYAL BALLET SINFONIA Conductor: KOEN KESSELS