Hello everyone,

I am a new member and having read all your professional and well researched discussions, I am utterly in awe and have felt a little bit scared in giving comments, let alone starting topics.

But I have finally plucked up my courage and here it is, my first, hopefully not stupid question to you all.

I have recently read about Johan Kobborg, Royal Ballet that he loves ballets with stories and that he feels that newly created ballets nowadays are all quite short and plotless. So I thought about possible ballet storylines that can be created on dancers!

In China, the budding ballet companies are not at all short of stories, from gods to passionate folktales. For example, the White Snake and they even are taking storylines from traditional Chinese operas!

So are Western or ancient plots running out? Or are story ballets just not the trend anymore? What are the criteria for ballets with a storyline? Drama, passion? Pride and Prejudice, or any other English Classics written in the Victorian times would be unsuitable since the English society was best at containing and reserving their emotions!

I would be grateful if you all can give some suggestions!

Thank you!

What an interesting question. I'll have to mull this over.

I will say, though, off the top of my head, that keeping Balanchine's comment about mothers-in-law in mind, Pride and Prejudice would be a challenge!

A Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter ballet would probably make a mint.

And talk about building a new audience!
Problems: copyright, royalties.

The spate of forgettable-to-dreadful Draculas should be a warning to those who hope that good adventure stories (with LOTS OF PLOT) translate into a riveting evening at the ballet.

Pride and Prejudice, when you look into it, has an emotionally resonant central situation (the varieties of love, and how we try to find our way through them), the interaction of social norms and individual preferences, and very vivid characters. Someone like Anthony Tudor might have turned this into something. "Pride," "prejudice", ambivalence, social snobbery, silliness, risk-taking and risk-avoidance seem to be central themes of the novel. All can be expressed with choreography.

Three couples: Elizabeth and Darcy at the center, with Jane and Mr. Bingley, and Lizzie's mother and father (Mr. and Mrs. Bennett), at the side. Lydia (giddy) , Lady Catherine de Burgh (haughty). and Mr. Collins (oily) might be good for brief solos. It could all more or less take place at the country ball. I dont' know anything about English 19th century music, so I can't suggest a composer or score.

In terms of marketing, there might be more Janeites ready to spring for ballet tickets than you think.

I want to do a Great Expectations...

What a great topic, saritachan.

Some of James Kudelka's comments in this Sunday's NY Times story on ABT's performance of his "Cinderella" seem pertinent. Will retellings of classic ballet stories that amount almost to rewritings catch on? Prokofiev saw Cinderella as a real, then still contemporary person, " feeling, experiencing and moving among us." Kudelka feels the need make her contemporary again. Back when PBS broadcast ABT's "La Corsaire," I remember Alexandra noting that dancers in the accompanying interviews felt the need to nudge, nudge, wink, wink laugh at the story, as if they were embarassed by it. (Pardon the paraphrase, Alexandra). It was as if they weren't able to "suspend disbelief" and fully give themselves to a silly, patriarchal, and racially unelightened story. In this age of postmodern suspicion of narratives, I wonder if some choreogaphers might be likewise disinclined to choreograph new ones.

Hadn't thought of Tudor, but yes, these characters would be very familiar territory for him.

And there are legions of Janites who are willing to purchase many, many things!

Tangentially, there is a recent murder mystery set in and around a dance company that is embroiled in creating a ballet version of G.E. The bits and pieces of a scenario were quite believable. Cannot remember the author at the moment.

This is exciting! Thank you for all the replies. I still have doubts about the Pride and Prejudice plausibility though... Jane Austen fans always put great emphasis on the wit of Lizzy and the dialogue, so much hidden meaning; plus, how do you contrast the huge emotion inside and the cold formal English manners outside? It would be fantastic if it worked out though.

May i ask what was Balanchine's comment??? "intrigued"

This may not be an exact quote but something to the effect that "there are no mother-in-laws in ballet"


This is not strictly true, but I think Balanchine's point was you could easily get hopelessly wrapped up in the details of a complicated plot. The comprehensive plot synopsis of the major events should be short, just a page or two.(This last is my own)

Richard

Critic Jack Anderson wrote in this July 1991 "Critic's Notebook"

He then publishes three potential sister-in-law storylines that a reader, Joe D'Onofrio sent him, all of which seem quite plausible.

Mothers-in-law are not necessarily impossible; in Sleeping Beauty, the King and Queen have become Desire/Florimund's parents-in-law, and grandparents, like in The Nutcracker are by definition someone's in laws. The basis of the Balanchine quote was that it is difficult and confusing to describe peripheral family relationships in a story ballet or extremely complicated relationships.

Pride and Prejudice would need a lot of paring. I think there are several tricky plot lines to get across: exactly what Mrs. Bennett says to make Mr. Darcy send Mr. Bingley away, how Mr. Darcy explains what he knows about Mr. Collins because of his sister (could be a tableau, or may it's unnecessary in the first place), and the conversation between Lady de Bourgh and Elizabeth (how to show that it is Mr. Darcy she is forbidding Elizabeth to marry). Miss Bingley could be portrayed easily like the Countess who's after Desire in Sleeping Beauty.

I think this is the point where the "mother-in-law" comment comes in. A ballet can express the nature and intensity of many kinds of relationship -- though not all. Motherhood is, to an extent, universal. Mother-in-laws come in a great variety and can easily be confused with a number of other "older woman" types.

Lilac Garden demonstrates the use of dance to convey feelings and relationships in a very simple plot line that can be easily grasped by most people.

I really do think it would be possible, by "reducing" the main characters to types in a way similar to Lilac Garden, to express the essential courtship issues at the heart of P&P. Obviously, much, much, much would have to be left out. And the ballet would have to be a bit longer than Lilac Garden. You couldn't do this with Great Expectations, or with Dickens in general I should think. But Austen deals with "universals" that -- despite changes in times and manner -- are still very much with us.

How about more elaborate story ballets like the MacMillan Manon, Mayerling, or Anastasia? A certain amount of background knowledge is assumed, or conveyed in the program notes to those who care to look. But you don't have to read a biography of Empress Elizabeth or Rudolf to understand the nature and development of their concerns, desires, fears, excesses. However, to get the most out these ballets, it WOULD help to have an idea of how an imperial court might be organized, along with the kind of people who might live there (for Mayerling) or the outlines of Ancien Regime class and gender politics (for Manon), or to have seen the movie of Anastasia. But I don't know how necessary this would be.

Sleeping Beauty brings with it the familiarity of fairy tales from many cultures. I can't imagine anyone having difficulty with it or not responding to its charms. The plot lines of Swan Lake, on the other hand, might seem very obscure to someone who hadn't been given some kind of summary before their first visit, or who was not very good at translating mime.

anymore suggestions? this post is not restricted to only pride and prejudice... I am not from the West so perhaps I am not aware of more folklores or ancient myths... Brainstorm people!

While the West is far from exhausted as a source for storytelling, I daresay that Asia is a rich mine of tale and tradition which is hardly touched, and yet would make for good ballets d'action. Somewhere, brooding in my unstaged consciousness, is Rashomon, and a ballet based on the Tale of Genji would work very well, too. For the lighter fare, Japan has a marvelous fantasy tradition which shows itself in modern times in part through manga and anime. A ballet of "Inu-Yasha", perhaps? The subtitle of the series identifies it as "a feudal fairy tale". Outside of Japan, the characters and their characteristics are widely known, so an audience would be pre-trained in what happens and what the dramatis personae can and cannot do. ...Or Spirited Away, anyone?

The NYCB/Frances Schreuder story could maybe combine a modern dance story surrounding parts of 'Davidsbundlertanze' inside it. The TV movie was good because of Lee Remick's pyrotechnics, but major NYCB details had to be omitted. You see this from reading the Shana Alexander book. The trial was in full swing, and there she was up at Saratoga. Juxtapositions like this are interesting, as when Leona Helmsley left the Park Lane Hotel to get on her private jet to go to no-frills jail in Kentucky--I think I would have done some austerity transition practice with such a future looming. I can't think that the Schreuder funding had any effect on the creation of this masterpiece, but it's hard not to remember that such a thing happened occasionally when you see it. Maybe enough time has gone by, and there's no way it's not still interesting--the arrival of that cool large check.

Rashomon could be wonderful. There's certainly an excellent "look" available, directly from the Kurosawa film.

Possibly this could be done with different casts of dancers for each version of the story?

The story has been made into an opera by Mayako Kubo, and I found a reference to a production in Graz directed by the Taiwanese choreographer and dance company director Lin Hwai-min. Has anyone seen or heard this? Have there been other productions? How important was any dance element in the telling of the story? Could the choreography have carried the story without the sung words?

Also, about Proust's In Search of Lost Time (a.k.a. Remembrance of Things Past). The approach of the director Raul Ruiz in his beautiful film, Time Regained, as the title of this section is translated, might work. This begins at the end of the saga, with the narrator as an elderly man returning to a grand reception at the house of the prince and princesse de Guermantes. He meets -- but scarcely recognizes -- the older versions of characters with whom he had earlier had a very close involvement. Those earlier meetings are revealed in flash-back.

There's lots of French salon music from the period (including Proust's favorite Faure, but also Satie, etc.) which could provide the score. (The film, I believe, has original music.)

I believe that the Proust has already been done. Not terribly well, but done.

I just Googled for 'Alice' and 'through the looking glass,' but don't know any of these productions--from English National Ballet and California Ballet in recent years. A non-children-performing 'Through the Looking Glass' would still be terrific. The review of ENB I read said there wasn't really that much dancing, but the choreographer who could figure out how to do the contortions once you've gone through the looking glass would need to be a genius, and spectacle wouldn't even have to be emphasized, since there are Red Queen and White Queen and all the other creatures. They could just dance spectacularly. But I'm sure every choreographer has thought through this one.

Think Proust would be a great ballet, but rather a non-story ballet. The Ruiz is considered good, but I don't think you can really do all those complex stories justice, so I thought it ended up rather skeletal, a little aging Odette, the Verdurins, Charlus, but nobody really fleshed out. What would be great is to do the salon of Oriane de Guermantes, but it's hard to see anything old working but Ravel, and that's been used a lot. There might be something from high modernism that could be used, I don't know. Faure if there was a 'Combray' ballet, maybe; and maybe Combray really could be done as a story, with Marcel nervous about his mother's kiss, etc. Maybe Albertine could be the focus of Proust as ballet, the ones without too many characters could be passionate.

Liszt's 'Mephisto Waltz' could be a great story ballet, since it's already built in.

Each of these stories suggests powerful visual imagery -- perhaps because they've all been been filmed. It's not always so easy to imagine sustained dancing that would advance, but not be merely illustrative of, the plot lines.

An Alice divertissement -- presided over by the rival Queens??-- would be fun. I'm thinking of something like Act II of Balanchine's Midsummer's Night Dream. But that's not, I admit, a "story ballet." You certainly would have the advantage of instant familiarity of each character. How would the imagery of the characters morphing into a pack of cards be done?

I like the idea of a Combray ballet. Wouldn't there be a problem with having a main character who is a child? Although it works for L'enfant et les Sortileges, where the child is played by an adult mezzo, I'm having difficulty thinking about how it could be done in a ballet. A real child? And where would the dancing be?

The duchesse de Guermantes is a great character -- her husband is even better, IMO -- but what makes her memorable is the contrast between her often frivolous words and her rather selfish actions. There is so much satire and (as time passes) disillusion in the way she is presented, it might be difficult to sustain sympathy or interest.

How about a "Swann in Love" ballet? Pursuit of the unattainable (and really not very appropriate) woman, then disillusionment when she is attained.

Alice was done in two acts, eight scenes by choreographer Michael Charnley with music by Joseph Horovitz. It was premiered in 1953 by the London Festival Ballet.

bart--I actually found 'Swann in Love' to have a more Proustian sensation to it than 'Time Regained,' but I think I'm in the minority. Casting of Ornella Muti was physically perfect, I thought, Deneuve such a straight shooter it's hard to see her as Odette even though I think she's a great actress.

Oriane and Basin are definitely fabulous characters. While you are right that you could not sustain sympathy (it would be ridiculous to try to sympathize with these two completely), I don't know about interest. I think one could sustain interest, even though it would be about something often caustic. The 'orianisms', the 'red shoes' which become all-important despite Swann's illness, Basin's adventures in lust. Then there are the more balletic images as when Oriane and her sister the princesse de Guermantes are wearing those fanciful hats and Oriane waves at Marcel. Oriane continued to be interesting all the way into 'le temps retrouve', having been able to change with great facility according to whatever new modes came up. I especially thought her raptures about the Spinning Song in 'Flying Dutchman' hilarious--especially since I also like it probably for the same silly reasons. Maybe an adult could not work for a child Marcel--I think you're probably right, but I'm not sure. In that video of 'Giselle,' Makarova's costume makes her look like a giant little girl. Albertine and Marcel could be done, I just doubt the interest is there. But it may be that ballet is not suited for unsympathetic characters like Oriane, except in the decorative aspects, and it may be that 'La Valse' already takes this on successfully. The music is marked 'Mouvt de Valse Viennoise,' but Ravel doesn't ever sound anything but Parisian, so with the fading away at the end, you get a sense of Things Past as in Proust. Or if fascinating selfish characters like this are portrayed, they probably can't be the central ones.

bart--I meant to add that I think your 'Swann in Love' idea is surely the most realistic if anyone wanted to use a section of Proust as a ballet. Just because I'm crazy about that 100-page-plus dinner party doesn't mean I would know whether you can do a ballet culminating in 'Poulet a la Financiere.'

The problem with Proust as a grounding for a libretto would be hampered by the fact that we lack a Tudor to speak chapters of narrative with a single jeté, or a way of walking. That was Petit's problem in his treatment of it. We even lack a Kenneth MacMillan to do a tabloidy "Nutcracker Murders" tale. Sir Kenneth could get away with Mayerling. It's been years since the Hapsburgs have sued anybody for defamation over things like that.

I don't believe that there is anymuch dance content in Rashomon, but Kurosawa did set an overall tone and suggestive movement vocabulary in his splendid direction of the 1950 film.

Glen Tetlely did a very charming Alice (I believe that was even the title) for National Ballet of Canada in the 1980s. I remember a friend calling it "the best new thing since Mozartiana." Kimberly Glasco danced Alice, if I recall correctly.

Any choreographer attempting to "tell a story" would have to know how to get to the bare essence of the story. It's easy to do with, say, a Romeo & Juliet. The emotions are so primal and uncomplicated, as are rhe actions which flow from them. Not a lot of thought going on that needs to be expressed.

I know I'm a little late, but Balanchine actually said, "It is very difficult to express, say, 'mother-in-law' using classical mime."

Thank you, Hans, for the exact quote.

papeetepatrick, as carbro mentioned, National Ballet of Canada performed Glen Tetley's ballet Alice to a score by David del Tredici. It wasn't exactly Carroll book, but a ballet about the historical young and old Alice, Alice's husband, and Lewis Carroll. I loved it when NBoC brought it to NYC in 1986. Kimberly Glasco did indeed dance the young Alice, with Karen Kain as Alice Hargraeves, and Rex Harrington as Lewis Carroll. The figures from Alice in Wonderland do appear in the ballet as well.

The Prague Chamber Ballet performed Alice in Wonderland: A Dance Fantasy based on Carroll's book with music by Victor Kalabis; the video won a Parent's Choice Award. (Although one reviewer on amazon.com called it "surreal.") I haven't been able to find a choreographer, though, through Google.

Hello!

I do not have as extensive a knowledge of ballet repertoires as all of you. But I have a further suggestion for just a simpler, full length ballet, not just focused on themes of relationships and human emotions.

Has anyone done Beauty and the Beast before?

A village.
A family mother, father and 3 daughters.
A pretty girl but who does not fit in with the crowd.
A self obsessed suitor for the Beauty.

Scene where father asks what the daughters want when he returns from business.

Castle scene.

etc etc etc... final celebrations?

There are, as all these famous stories.. many versions of Beauty and the Beast. Disney version? Will have nice teacups and forks and brooms dancing, but I am not particularly into those. (Although I had lots of fun watching ENB's Nutcracker with designs by Gerald Scarfe.

Speaking of Alice and Wonderland, ENB also has a version.

Re: cartoons by Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Haoul's Castle, Tonari no Totoro etc) They actually have a very nice music score. Slightly pop music though. But perhaps ballet cannot show the dramatic exagerations of proportions and portray the characters fully?

I'm almost positive somebody, somewhere has done Beauty and the Beast, but I can't for the life of me remember which company or choreographer it was. I'm wanting to say it was a company in Asia, maybe Singapore? Or else it was one of the smaller regional companies in the US.

Does anyone have any more information about a Beauty and the Beast ballet?

Google turns up many:
Birmingham Royal Ballet (ch. David Bintley, music by Glenn Buhr; animal masks designed by Jim Hensen's workshop; )- -- this was performd in Hong Kong, which may be what you were recalling, BalleNut;
Joffrey II (here's a recent NY Times review:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...753C1A961948260
also Ballet Met, Ballet Memphis, Atlanta Ballet, and many others.

Jean Cocteau's film version remains so visually strong in my memory that I almost feel that it, too, was danced.

Decades ago at San Francisco Ballet, Lew Christensen choreographed beauty and the Beast (i think it was even televised). Havne't seen it, but many thought it very good

There's FANTASTIC material for ballets in the traditional dance-dramas of India and Indonesia. I saw last year a version of "the Abduction of Sita" -- a crucial episode in from the Ramayana epic -- done by classical artists from that region, in which Rama was danced in the Kathak style, the demon Ravenna in the Kathakali style, and Sita by a fabulous Balinese dancer who danced her role in the Balinese style.

The story is common to all these cultures, all of which have great clasical dance forms, and hte story of the abduction of Sita is a very important ballet in each culture -- and it is a fantastic, intriguing, haunting, heart-breaking story, with a great role for a ballerina, a principal dancer, his brother, a love-lorn demonness, her brother, the monkey king Hanuman (FABULOUS role), a deer, an eagle (who dies heroically in mid-air trying to rescue Sita from Ravenna, who's borne her away in his chariot) ...... and lots of wonderful mime.

To make a ballet out of it, the only great obstacle would be getting a suitably wonderful score written to support it. Then Christopher Wheeldon could have a field day.

One of John Cranko's earliest ballets was a "Beauty and the Beast" for Sadler's Wells, set to Ravel .

And about Miyazaki's selection of scoring, I find J-pop to be of a remarkably high standard for the popular music genre, and I think that it could work by itself, if a choreographer wanted it.

I think 'Picnic' would be a good American ballet. The central dance is already there and easy to see it move into ballet. And the Duning music is ever-rapturous, and could be arranged into a suite very nicely. I'd love to see Ms. Ringer and Mr. Woetzel Madge and Hal, but they've already proved they can transcend noisome costumes--that same Jean Louis pink dress needs to be suggested, I'd hope, so they wouldn't need to work so hard to save something. Just moving it into ballet is modernization enough. I just wouldn't want to see Madge in another one of those metallic reds. It should definitely make you think of Novak and Holden as well as the characters they played.

One thing I noticed about the "stories" in ballet and opera.. at least the ones I have seen... is that are so "contrived" and almost cartoon like. The damsel in distress.. the lover betrayed and so on.. and the dying young beauty... whatever. you get the point.

But the emotional range is large if the nuance is lacking no? I was wondering if more nuance in the storyline were not possible? Or maybe it is not desirable?

A case in point is Le Corsaire which comes to mind because it is the last ballet I saw. The storyline is so silly no? Or take Rigoletto... again a "goofy story". Am I being too harsh i wanting more nuance and sophitication inthe storylines? Would this detract from the performance... the dance and opera? What about less literal ballets more thematic with no storyline? Can't do that in opera though.. it's all words and built on a story.

What say you?

On the 'Potential Story Lines for Ballets' thread, Mel mentioned that Petit had done a ballet of Proust, but did not mention Marcel and Albertine specifically, after Bart and I had been toying with various possibilities for ballets out of Proust characters and situations. This is probably because the Marcel/Albertine is not the whole Petit piece, but I don't know. (I checked again since writing the above, and it is an extract. I'd be interested to know what the rest of the ballet is like.)

In any case, it's on the 'Natasha' tape with Makarova as Albertine and Denys Ganio as Marcel. I had originally thought this was a possible subject, but am glad it has already been tried, although with not terribly successful results, in my opinion. The reasons are twofold: It seems unlikely, but Makarova is entirely convincing as Albertine while Ganio is not as Marcel, but only because he is too virile and energetic--you don't get any sense of the sickly Marcel. However, he looks fabulous in this and two other pieces with Makarova (especially Petit's 'Carmen,' which is quintessentially Parisian. The second reason is worse: Saint-Saens is all wrong for anything Proustian. He's a good ultra-extroverted composer, good for fetes, circuses, crowds, even Odette and Swann going out in Paris to be seen dressed properly, but I can't think that he had much concern with subtlety. His idea of subtlety is perhaps like the subtlety of spun sugar. His best works, as the delicious 2nd movement from the G Minor Piano Concerto, which is a perfect confection, are super-charming but not dramatic. In that same work, you have a first movement which is full of 19th century melodramatic bombast and is appealing in a somewhat fatuous way. You can even imagine something done for Baptiste and Garance more easily than for Marcel and Albertine, who produce one of the most introverted parts of the whole novel.

Anyway, that answers that about that episode of 'Recherches', and I do think once is enough for it. The tape is wonderful, though, with Ms. Makarova's wonderful natural humour all over the place; I imagine most here have watched it. I don't know much about her personally, but I perversely hope she threw some big diva scenes backstage. Why, she can even pull off yellow hair, so I hope she was sometimes difficult to get along with. I did read she said Nureyev dropped her once, which is funny whether true or not.

I haven't seen Petit's ballet "Proust ou les intermittences du coeur", but it will enter the POB's repertory in march 2007. I wonder if Mathieu Ganio, principal dancer and the son of Denys Ganio (and Dominique Khalfouni, former POB principal before she left for Marseille) will perform in it...

papeetepatrick writes:

The most plausible reconstruction of that episode I’ve come across was the account given in Otis Stuart’s biography of Nureyev, a highly enjoyable read. Evidently Nureyev did not drop, push, kick, or otherwise interfere with Makarova. It was during a performance of “Swan Lake” and Nureyev was becoming increasingly frustrated by his partner’s habit of not keeping with the music. Makarova took a balance at a point where Nureyev did not regard it as absolutely necessary, and rather than gallantly rushing over to lend support he just stayed where he was and she went splat.



A definite possibility – as long as they don’t bring back Inge’s original ending, which had Madge being run out of town as a slut, I think. I agree with Joshua Logan on that one.

DefJef writes:

Ballet dancers tend to be young, and the depiction of young people in love – innocent young love, love fulfilled, love thwarted –is highly danceable. But there are many, many ballets and operas that take different approaches. The ‘cartoonishness’ you mention – the relative simplicity of storyline, the often primal expression of emotion – comes in because of the need to create situations where it is plausible for people to be dancing (and in opera, singing to the limits of human capacity). But within those ostensibly simple stories there is plenty of room for nuances of expression.

Le Corsaire is silly, which is half the fun!

True, but I admit I was bothered recurring gag on the initial broadcast of ABT's Corsaire in PBS awhile back. You had Kevin McKenzie and the dancers in interviews trying to explain the plot and failing and giving the general impression that the ballet viewers were about to see was an incomprehensible mess. Okay, it's not Hamlet, but the plot is perfectly clear, and that introduction annoyed me. I don't have the DVD yet but I hope they left that part off.

Two more Beauty and the Beasts: Cape Town City Ballet (can't remember when) and Northern Ballet Theatre (2005).
Saritachan, Northern Ballet Theatre seems to be quite of your opinion - currently they are doing a Three Musketeers ballet. In the past, they have performed Peter Pan, Wuthering heights, La Traviata, Madame Butterfly, A Streetcar Named Desire and a host of other ballets with "real storylines".

Papeetepatrick, thanks so much for uncovering the Proust/Petit ballet -- and Estelle, for giving it a name.

Yes! That was infinitely more puerile and cartoonish than the story line they were putting down.

I'm no fan of the Corsaire story, but although the plot may be described as "cartoonish," the use and elaboration of ballet language definitely is not.

Sometimes selecting a story that is simple and even obvious can liberate the choreographer and give him or her opportunities that would not be possible in a more complex story.


Imagine an ABT ad with the following slogan: "CORSAIRE -- IT AIN'T HAMLET". While some would take that as a put-down and stay away, lovers of ballet might breath a sigh of relief.

Dirac, I completely agree. The plot of Corsaire isn't any more difficult to comprehend than that of Swan Lake.

Here's a huge list of my favorite fairy tales I read to my kids. A few of which have already been made into ballets.

Papa Gatto http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/031677073...glance&n=283155
This one I have thought about a lot for a ballet. It is basically an Italian Cinderella. Many cultures have a Cinderella story.

I saw a movie of an Appalacian Cinderella story titled "Ashpet"

Mufaro’s beautiful Daughter’s http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/068804045...glance&n=283155
An African Cinderella

Flower-Fairies http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/072324839...=books&v=glance
Amherst Ballet in Massachusettes did a ballet production baised on this book. Complete with matching costumes.

The Little Match Girl http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/014230188...glance&n=283155
This one was done in Conneticutt see the link below.
http://www.chancelopera.com/bbOTHER%20OPERAS/MatchDREAM.html
4599263?n=2986&s=books&v=glance

Seven Chinese Brothers http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/059042057...=books&v=glance
This would be a men's ballet. I love this story of how the brother's worked together.

older Brother Younger Brother http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/014055334...=books&v=glance

Where the Wild Things Are has already been done http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004WJM...v=glance&n=5174

Legend of the Blue bonnet http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/069811359...=books&v=glance
I just read this Native American tale when I was substitute teaching. Lots of emotion.

Tatterhood http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/031657334...glance&n=283155
My daughter danced around the house with a wooden spoon for years after we got this book.

Stone soup http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/068987836...glance&n=283155

The Rough Face Girl http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/069811626...=books&v=glance
A Native American Cinderella

The People could fly http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/037582405...=books&v=glance
Reading Rainbow did a episode depicting this African American story.

The talking eggs http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/080370619...=books&v=glance
A Cajun Cinderella

Pip and Estella, right?

Wow! -- thanks for that research, vicariious. And for pointing out some of the ballets that have already been sete on this literature. Maybe publishers of children's literature should consider developing "ballet treatments" -- complete with designs, etc. -- for their more suitable works.

I just watched 'Mayerling,' and the 2nd act tavern/semi-brothel scene is very enjoyable with Darcey Bussell. Well, this is a most peculiar piece, I'll say, but Irek Mukhademov was magnificent. I also recently watched him with the Bolshoi in 'Raymonda.' He definitely knows how to zip up a piece, and I'd like to know more about him, if he's still dancing. Bolshoi recording is from 1987, RB of 'Mayerling' from 1994.



And, in fact, Lanchberry orchestrated it for part of the tavern/brothel scene. Musically, the piano pieces are all orchestrated for a fast and vapid Muzak sound. There are also some Transcendental Etudes in the 3rd Act, including one for the final scene with Mary and Rudolph--this is truly hard to take, and most of the orchestrations are musically horrible: the 'Mephisto Waltz' full of cuts, but mainly it sounds as if an old LP had been sped up to 45 but the pitches somehow staying the same; however, it works well enough as a 'Dance at the Inn,' whereas the Transcendental Etude for Viviana Durante and Irek just sounds like silent-movie music for Valentino and Vilma Banky. Mukhademov, to my mind, seems to be able to make even the silliest things work. Any other fans of his out there?

Well, real earthly royalty does not always work so well en pointe as does Elisabeth McGorian as the Queen in 'Sleeping Beauty' (that is a beautiful face), for example, or Prince Siegfried, etc., not known as an actual potentate-to-be.