Cinderella (Nureyev)
In his version of Cinderella, created for the Paris Opéra, Nureyev updated Charles Perrault’s classic fairy tale to reflect a world in which young girls were far more likely to dream of a career on the silver screen than an invitation to a palace ball. The heroine’s dreams are focused on Hollywood, and the prince is a film star who falls for her warm-hearted charm.
In response to a suggestion from Petrika Ionesco – the ballet’s designer – that he create a Hollywood Cinderella, Nureyev choreographed a ballet that is a homage to classic cinema. It begins with Cinderella gazing longingly at a Charlie Chaplin poster she has hidden in the scullery fireplace. Her wicked stepmother sends her own daughters to dance lessons, despite their lack of talent, in the hope that they will become stars. Cinderella – who, unlike her stepsisters, possesses great talent – is forced to stay home, scrubbing floors. Her fairy godfather, a film producer, arrives in Cinderella’s life with a literal crash, landing on the stage in a leather helmet and goggles. Cinderella rushes to his aid. Captivated by her beauty as well as her kind heart, the film producer spirits her away to a career in the movies.
Nureyev created the film producer role for himself. The name he gives the character – Diaghilev Pygmalion – not only echoes the transformative effect of Diaghilev (on ballet) and of Professor Henry Higgins (on Eliza, in Shaw’s play, Pygmalion). In Julie Kavanagh’s biography of Nureyev, she notes it also ‘encapsulated the bond’ he had with the young dancers whose careers he transformed at the Paris Opéra.
Nureyev’s vision of Hollywood revolves around the inside of a giant clock, its internal mechanisms evoking the cruel march of time. The ballet features multiple references to the classic films Nureyev loved, including Royal Wedding, King Kong and Singin’ in the Rain. In one scene, Cinderella borrows her father’s clothes to mimic Charlie Chaplin, before dancing a pas de deux with a coat stand in tribute to Fred Astaire, whose choreographic imagination Nureyev admired. Towards the end of the ballet, after Cinderella’s shoe is discovered and she is reunited with the Film Star, Diaghilev Pygmalion hovers around the couple. He proffers a film contract, which Cinderella signs. For this twentieth-century heroine, immortality on the silver screen is a dream come true.
On the first night at the Paris Opéra, Elisabeth Platel danced the title role, with Laurent Hilaire as the Film Star and Nureyev as Pygmalion Diaghilev. At the American premiere at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on 16 June 1987, Sylvie Guillem appeared in the title role to critical acclaim. That same year, she also starred in a film version of Cinderella with Charles Jude as the Film Star and Nureyev as Pygmalion Diaghilev.
Cinderella remains a refreshingly imaginative interpretation of a classic story transposed to the modern world. It continues to feature in the Paris Opéra repertoire today.