Spirit of the Dance
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CINDERELLA ABSTRACTION
Ballet in One Act
Choreography: R. Mykyta * Composer: S. Prokofiev,
arranged by P. Salazar
Run Time: 19 Minutes * Cast: 2 Women, 1 Man
Premiere: February 16, 2017
Performed by Дух Танцю – Spirit of the Dance Ukrainian Folk Ballet,
with Guest Artists from The Ballet Theatre of Maryland at the
Gildenhorn Recital Hall, University of Maryland, College Park,
on the occasion of Sarah Barham’s Senior Piano Recital
SUMMARY:
The story of Cinderella is timeless, appearing in one form or another in the literature of almost every culture throughout history, from the Grimm Brothers to Charles Perrault, to the Arabian Nights, and even within the Greek myth of Eros and Psyche, which was notably expounded on by C. S. Lewis in his book Till We Have Faces. It is this retelling, with its two major themes of “goodness attracts goodness” and “love cannot exist without trust” that inspired the choreography for this project.
Stylistically, in my choreography, I tried to match Prokofiev’s style in the music. While I used a largely classical base, my idea was to liberate the technique and convey the themes in a more expressive way. I also wanted to add elements of American jazz and Slavic folk styles into the choreography to compliment those different music styles found in the score. The most important thing I wanted to express was a sense of abandonment and surrender to love.
In addition to the complete work, excerpts from Cinderella Abstraction that can be presented independently include: the opening movement, Amoroso and the fourth movement, Cinderella and the Prince.
VIDEO SAMPLE:
