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Hello and welcome to Birmingham Royal Ballet. | 0:00:36 | 0:00:39 | |
This year the company celebrates its 20th anniversary, | 0:00:39 | 0:00:42 | |
and to mark that event | 0:00:42 | 0:00:44 | |
we've created a brand-new production of the magical tale of Cinderella. | 0:00:44 | 0:00:48 | |
SINGING AND LAUGHING | 0:00:49 | 0:00:51 | |
I'm David Bintley, the director of the company. | 0:00:54 | 0:00:57 | |
And as choreographer, I've been working with our dancers | 0:00:57 | 0:01:00 | |
for over a year to bring this ballet to the stage. | 0:01:00 | 0:01:04 | |
Behind all of these doors, there's a lot of activity - | 0:01:04 | 0:01:07 | |
dancers putting on make-up, costumes... | 0:01:07 | 0:01:10 | |
Hello, how are you? | 0:01:10 | 0:01:13 | |
-Everything all right? CHILDREN: -Yes, thank you. | 0:01:13 | 0:01:16 | |
-Excited again? -Yes. -Good. | 0:01:16 | 0:01:18 | |
And remember the steps, remember to go the right way tonight. | 0:01:18 | 0:01:21 | |
THEY GIGGLE Yes? Good. Good luck. | 0:01:21 | 0:01:24 | |
Thank you! | 0:01:24 | 0:01:25 | |
And in this room is The Wicked Stepmother. | 0:01:25 | 0:01:29 | |
Hello? | 0:01:30 | 0:01:31 | |
Come in! | 0:01:31 | 0:01:33 | |
I would say more sinister than wicked. | 0:01:35 | 0:01:37 | |
I think that's the most chilling thing about it. | 0:01:37 | 0:01:40 | |
She's a bit of a...Stone Flower. | 0:01:43 | 0:01:46 | |
My character, The Fairy Godmother, | 0:01:52 | 0:01:54 | |
is the spirit of Cinderella's mother. | 0:01:54 | 0:01:57 | |
She comes back to make her wish come true of going to the ball. | 0:02:00 | 0:02:04 | |
I come into the ballet, kind of, in disguise as a little old woman | 0:02:04 | 0:02:07 | |
who then transforms into her fairy godmother. | 0:02:07 | 0:02:09 | |
Going to try and set up my make-up for my quick change, | 0:02:09 | 0:02:14 | |
cos I come running back here, like...a mad woman, | 0:02:14 | 0:02:17 | |
trying to get everything done in two seconds flat. | 0:02:17 | 0:02:21 | |
It's a lot of chopping and changing - start in this, then into stars, out of stars, | 0:02:22 | 0:02:26 | |
into ballroom, and then back into stars. | 0:02:26 | 0:02:29 | |
It's good because once the curtain's up it's non-stop for us, backstage and onstage. | 0:02:32 | 0:02:36 | |
Back in the 1980s, | 0:02:38 | 0:02:39 | |
I danced the role of an ugly sister in Sir Frederick Ashton's celebrated version of Cinderella. | 0:02:39 | 0:02:45 | |
The ugly sisters are often played by men, | 0:02:45 | 0:02:48 | |
but in my production, | 0:02:48 | 0:02:49 | |
I wanted Cinderella's situation to be that much more realistic, | 0:02:49 | 0:02:53 | |
so the roles of the ugly sisters are danced by women. | 0:02:53 | 0:02:56 | |
Still ugly, still mean, | 0:02:56 | 0:02:58 | |
and still funny, I hope. | 0:02:58 | 0:03:00 | |
SHE LAUGHS | 0:03:07 | 0:03:09 | |
Our version of Cinderella starts with a prologue | 0:03:09 | 0:03:11 | |
where you see a very young Cinderella who's just lost her mother. | 0:03:11 | 0:03:15 | |
This means she ends up living with her stepmother and two very ugly sisters. | 0:03:15 | 0:03:19 | |
Fairy Godmother in disguise! | 0:03:22 | 0:03:24 | |
-TANNOY: -'Beginners, please stand by on stage.' | 0:03:24 | 0:03:27 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:27:17 | 0:27:19 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:30:03 | 0:30:06 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:32:40 | 0:32:42 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:33:38 | 0:33:41 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:36:45 | 0:36:47 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:36:54 | 0:36:57 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:37:51 | 0:37:53 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:41:27 | 0:41:29 | |
Oh, my goodness, my feet. | 0:41:33 | 0:41:36 | |
Well, that's act one finished | 0:41:36 | 0:41:38 | |
and Cinderella safely on her way to the ball. | 0:41:38 | 0:41:41 | |
I have a few notes to give to the dancers, | 0:41:41 | 0:41:44 | |
so I'm going backstage. | 0:41:44 | 0:41:46 | |
Most of the cast play several roles, | 0:41:48 | 0:41:50 | |
so they're dashing back to their dressing rooms | 0:41:50 | 0:41:52 | |
to change for the big ballroom scene | 0:41:52 | 0:41:54 | |
where Cinderella and The Prince have their most romantic moment. | 0:41:54 | 0:41:58 | |
'I want to talk to The Prince about improving one of the lifts he has to perform with Cinderella.' | 0:41:58 | 0:42:03 | |
-Iain? -Hello! | 0:42:03 | 0:42:05 | |
-Are you looking for me? -I am looking for you. | 0:42:08 | 0:42:10 | |
-In your room, strangely enough. -Sorry, I was... -All right? -Yeah. | 0:42:10 | 0:42:13 | |
-Good. -I need to do my hair still... -Yeah, yeah. | 0:42:13 | 0:42:16 | |
-I was going to dare to change a lift slightly for tonight. -Sure. | 0:42:16 | 0:42:21 | |
Tiny, tiny change. | 0:42:21 | 0:42:22 | |
-You know when you do the...? After she's done the long pirouette and puts her arm behind? -Yup. | 0:42:22 | 0:42:27 | |
-And you do that lift off the ground? -Mm-hmm. | 0:42:27 | 0:42:29 | |
-Do you think I could ask her to lift that bottom leg up. -Sure. | 0:42:29 | 0:42:33 | |
-Would that be too much of a risk...? -No, it'll be all right. | 0:42:33 | 0:42:36 | |
'That's the fun part, working with a choreographer who's there, | 0:42:36 | 0:42:39 | |
you can always change it, you can change it at the last minute. | 0:42:39 | 0:42:42 | |
It was a little bit... This time, I thought. | 0:42:42 | 0:42:45 | |
It's great for the dancers, it keeps it exciting. | 0:42:45 | 0:42:48 | |
He sees every show, and if he sees something he doesn't like, he can say, | 0:42:48 | 0:42:51 | |
"No, try this, try that." | 0:42:51 | 0:42:53 | |
Which is good, keeps us on our toes. | 0:42:53 | 0:42:55 | |
KNOCKING | 0:42:55 | 0:42:57 | |
-Are you dressed? -Yeah! -OK. | 0:42:57 | 0:43:01 | |
Great! | 0:43:01 | 0:43:03 | |
Really good! | 0:43:03 | 0:43:04 | |
Really good. | 0:43:04 | 0:43:06 | |
Much, much better, it's coming along now. | 0:43:06 | 0:43:08 | |
I think that's the best solo you've done. | 0:43:08 | 0:43:11 | |
Tonight it was quick. I had a few wig issues and about a nine-minute change. | 0:43:11 | 0:43:15 | |
-Nine minutes? -Yeah, it wouldn't... | 0:43:15 | 0:43:17 | |
-I've got a make-up change and a dress change... -Why so long? | 0:43:17 | 0:43:20 | |
Um, I just made it tonight. I think... The wig came unstuck twice, | 0:43:20 | 0:43:24 | |
I came running back, put some more glue on it. | 0:43:24 | 0:43:27 | |
-And then Diana was standing there with the door open, telling me to run. But I made it. -Good. OK! | 0:43:27 | 0:43:32 | |
Better get the rest of it now. | 0:43:32 | 0:43:34 | |
-Cheers! -Thank you! -Thank you, see you later. | 0:43:34 | 0:43:36 | |
-See you later. -Bye. | 0:43:36 | 0:43:38 | |
When I was asked to choreograph this new Cinderella, | 0:43:40 | 0:43:43 | |
I needed a young ballerina with the emotional depth and technique | 0:43:43 | 0:43:47 | |
to transform from pitiful child to captivating princess. | 0:43:47 | 0:43:50 | |
I chose Elisha Willis, | 0:43:50 | 0:43:52 | |
who I've often worked with and who is an inspiring collaborator in the rehearsal studio. | 0:43:52 | 0:43:57 | |
I really do love working with him. | 0:43:57 | 0:44:00 | |
I think we have a good understanding of each other, | 0:44:00 | 0:44:04 | |
and he's incredibly musical which is something I think is really important. | 0:44:04 | 0:44:08 | |
So quite often we're on the same page | 0:44:08 | 0:44:10 | |
with what we're trying to get out of a solo or the pas de deux. | 0:44:10 | 0:44:13 | |
-You all right? -Yes, thank you. -Yes, you? -Not too bad. OK? | 0:44:19 | 0:44:24 | |
-Yes, thank you. -Good. | 0:44:24 | 0:44:26 | |
I'm ready. I think. | 0:44:27 | 0:44:29 | |
I get a bit anxious when I'm due go on. | 0:44:29 | 0:44:32 | |
The waiting's the worst. | 0:44:32 | 0:44:34 | |
It's the hardest. | 0:44:34 | 0:44:37 | |
As long as I remember the new lift David's added in act two, I'll be OK. | 0:44:38 | 0:44:43 | |
-TANNOY: -'Ladies and gentlemen, this is your act two beginner's call.' | 0:44:43 | 0:44:49 | |
Cinderella's grand entrance at the ball in act two is a difficult one. | 0:44:49 | 0:44:53 | |
She has to walk down the staircase en pointe. | 0:44:53 | 0:44:55 | |
There's a staircase and they put dry ice over it. | 0:44:55 | 0:44:59 | |
Even if you look down, the tutu's sticking out, | 0:44:59 | 0:45:02 | |
so it's really difficult to see the edge of the stairs. | 0:45:02 | 0:45:04 | |
She has to stay beautiful and serene and literally can't afford to put a foot wrong. | 0:45:04 | 0:45:09 | |
-Yes? -When you do the soutenu before you go to the girls, | 0:45:10 | 0:45:14 | |
don't move so quickly. On Tuesday, you did the soutenu, | 0:45:14 | 0:45:17 | |
-you went like that... And the other boys aren't moving. -OK. | 0:45:17 | 0:45:20 | |
Quick as you can, please, girls. | 0:45:26 | 0:45:27 | |
Running out of time. | 0:45:27 | 0:45:29 | |
Use as much space as you can, there is more down front. | 0:45:29 | 0:45:32 | |
I know you can't see it, I know it's dark, but... | 0:45:32 | 0:45:35 | |
There is a little bit more, even more so? | 0:45:35 | 0:45:37 | |
Yeah. Much as you get. | 0:45:37 | 0:45:39 | |
In the second act of our fairytale, Cinderella arrives at the ball | 0:45:43 | 0:45:47 | |
and meets the prince of her dreams. | 0:45:47 | 0:45:49 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:48:16 | 0:48:18 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:49:57 | 0:49:59 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:51:18 | 0:51:20 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:52:22 | 0:52:24 | |
CRASH! | 0:53:35 | 0:53:37 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:53:42 | 0:53:44 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:53:52 | 0:53:55 | |
FANFARE | 0:55:34 | 0:55:36 | |
FANFARE | 0:56:04 | 0:56:06 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:57:08 | 0:57:11 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:58:18 | 0:58:21 | |
APPLAUSE | 1:01:02 | 1:01:05 | |
APPLAUSE | 1:09:25 | 1:09:29 | |
APPLAUSE | 1:11:29 | 1:11:31 | |
APPLAUSE | 1:12:45 | 1:12:47 | |
LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE | 1:14:00 | 1:14:02 | |
APPLAUSE | 1:15:29 | 1:15:31 | |
APPLAUSE | 1:20:27 | 1:20:30 | |
TICK TOCK | 1:23:35 | 1:23:38 | |
BELLS CHIME | 1:24:30 | 1:24:32 | |
APPLAUSE | 1:25:45 | 1:25:47 | |
'Act three will begin in five minutes. Thank you.' | 1:25:51 | 1:25:55 | |
It's a rather big scene change, this. | 1:25:55 | 1:25:57 | |
We start with a pile of shoes, here. | 1:25:57 | 1:26:00 | |
Rejected candidates for the role of princess. | 1:26:00 | 1:26:04 | |
Then, very quickly from that we go back into the kitchen. | 1:26:04 | 1:26:07 | |
So, you can see they're wheeling on these big kitchen trucks here. | 1:26:07 | 1:26:10 | |
It really is a lightning quick scene change, that one. | 1:26:10 | 1:26:13 | |
Took us a week of rehearsals to get that one right. | 1:26:13 | 1:26:17 | |
GIGGLING | 1:26:17 | 1:26:20 | |
The design for Cinderella has to be sumptuous and exciting. | 1:26:22 | 1:26:25 | |
And when I was wondering who would provide the look for me, | 1:26:25 | 1:26:28 | |
I couldn't think of anybody better than the designer John MacFarlane. | 1:26:28 | 1:26:32 | |
It has to be totally magical. | 1:26:32 | 1:26:34 | |
Because, like all these great ballets, | 1:26:34 | 1:26:37 | |
you have to honour the expectation of an audience. | 1:26:37 | 1:26:41 | |
You have to give them the, kind of, fantasy world that they're sort of expecting. | 1:26:41 | 1:26:47 | |
We have 16 of these girls come on and it's actually remarkably short. | 1:26:47 | 1:26:53 | |
It's about 1 minute 59 they're on for. | 1:26:53 | 1:26:55 | |
But, um... | 1:26:55 | 1:26:57 | |
we make up for it in bling. | 1:26:57 | 1:26:59 | |
It's a big bling moment. | 1:26:59 | 1:27:01 | |
-When they're sitting up like this... -It's the heavier ones, yeah. | 1:27:03 | 1:27:07 | |
The heavier ones, | 1:27:07 | 1:27:08 | |
something about the lining is maybe pulling them off. | 1:27:08 | 1:27:11 | |
It's quite exciting working on this production | 1:27:11 | 1:27:14 | |
because it's completely brand-new. All the costumes are brand-new from scratch, | 1:27:14 | 1:27:18 | |
and working for John from the very beginning with his designs, | 1:27:18 | 1:27:21 | |
and then when you actually see it all fully made up, | 1:27:21 | 1:27:25 | |
and the dancers are all so excited about it, so... | 1:27:25 | 1:27:28 | |
The costumes are going to be fantastic. | 1:27:28 | 1:27:30 | |
The costumes are loosely 18th-century | 1:27:30 | 1:27:33 | |
which is certainly a favourite period of mine. | 1:27:33 | 1:27:36 | |
And it's also, of course, a fantastic period for dance costumes. | 1:27:36 | 1:27:41 | |
You know, you have very tight bodices on women | 1:27:41 | 1:27:43 | |
and skirts that really do move. | 1:27:43 | 1:27:45 | |
But you can have very opulent costumes for men, | 1:27:45 | 1:27:48 | |
in the tail coats and the padding and all these things. | 1:27:48 | 1:27:51 | |
Spent my whole life trying to be thin and...look at that. | 1:27:51 | 1:27:56 | |
Nice. | 1:27:56 | 1:27:58 | |
Do you see where my fingers are now? | 1:28:01 | 1:28:04 | |
I think all of that, we could punch open. | 1:28:04 | 1:28:06 | |
And we could even open these. | 1:28:06 | 1:28:08 | |
Just because... | 1:28:08 | 1:28:09 | |
-Doing up... -Yeah, well, you're looking... Can you see my hand? | 1:28:10 | 1:28:14 | |
-I can't see your hand, no. -Right, well, you need to, | 1:28:14 | 1:28:17 | |
because down about here, isn't she? | 1:28:17 | 1:28:19 | |
I can see here. | 1:28:19 | 1:28:20 | |
Well, that's fine. | 1:28:20 | 1:28:21 | |
So, that's where I need to open it up, in about there. | 1:28:21 | 1:28:25 | |
The wig is a grey 18th-century, | 1:28:28 | 1:28:30 | |
-but it's got sort of a cast of green in it. -OK. | 1:28:30 | 1:28:34 | |
And the make-up should be the same. | 1:28:34 | 1:28:36 | |
But otherwise, human make-up, just slightly green. | 1:28:36 | 1:28:39 | |
-We should know there's something slightly different about you from the rest... -Queasy looking. | 1:28:39 | 1:28:44 | |
-And the tail. -And the tail! Minor detail. | 1:28:44 | 1:28:46 | |
Sticking out the back of your trousers. | 1:28:46 | 1:28:48 | |
The costumes are important to the story of Cinderella, | 1:28:48 | 1:28:52 | |
but for the dancers, | 1:28:52 | 1:28:55 | |
their shoes are even more critical for the performance. | 1:28:55 | 1:28:58 | |
Each week, we get through over 130 pairs. | 1:28:58 | 1:29:00 | |
This is where they come to get their pointe shoes, particularly the girls | 1:29:05 | 1:29:09 | |
Each pigeon hole is each individual girl. | 1:29:09 | 1:29:13 | |
They have their shoes made for them especially. | 1:29:13 | 1:29:15 | |
Where we're doing bourrees, when we're pitter-pattering en pointe, | 1:29:15 | 1:29:20 | |
that can often lead to the shoes getting soft, | 1:29:20 | 1:29:23 | |
they can die a lot quicker. | 1:29:23 | 1:29:25 | |
At the heart of the story are Cinderella's crystal slippers | 1:29:25 | 1:29:28 | |
which have been a challenge for us to produce for the demands of the ballet. | 1:29:28 | 1:29:32 | |
Cinderella has two crystal shoes | 1:29:32 | 1:29:36 | |
and in the rehearsal studio, the crystal stones came off the shoe, | 1:29:36 | 1:29:40 | |
and we're hot-stoning and putting crystals on a pair of pointe shoes. | 1:29:40 | 1:29:44 | |
It's about six hours per pair to cover them in the crystals. | 1:29:44 | 1:29:48 | |
It's lots of sparkle. | 1:29:48 | 1:29:50 | |
And we have to make sure that they're fixed properly | 1:29:50 | 1:29:53 | |
because if they fall off and they're on the stage, | 1:29:53 | 1:29:56 | |
that could be hazardous. | 1:29:56 | 1:29:57 | |
The boys wear lots of character shoes which have big tongues | 1:29:57 | 1:30:01 | |
and leather shoes with Louis heels which are shaped. | 1:30:01 | 1:30:04 | |
-The shoes are fine. -We would have been able to put an insole in, but... | 1:30:04 | 1:30:08 | |
'Even though they're made for them, they've got' | 1:30:08 | 1:30:11 | |
to quickly get used to them dancing on stage. They've been rehearsing | 1:30:11 | 1:30:14 | |
in ballet flats which is just canvas shoes. | 1:30:14 | 1:30:17 | |
-Hi, Iain. You all right? -Was it all right? | 1:30:19 | 1:30:24 | |
-Yeah, yeah. -How you wanted? -Good solo. | 1:30:24 | 1:30:26 | |
I thought the lift worked really well, you really pulled it out tonight. | 1:30:26 | 1:30:29 | |
You really had to put some turns in there. | 1:30:29 | 1:30:32 | |
No, it was good. And the solo was even better. | 1:30:32 | 1:30:34 | |
Got your Bolshoi lift in, your one-arm lift in. | 1:30:34 | 1:30:37 | |
Sorry. | 1:30:37 | 1:30:38 | |
It's quite neat that, because she's not holding on, so it's... | 1:30:38 | 1:30:42 | |
-No, it's good. -It literally is... -It's balance, I think. | 1:30:42 | 1:30:45 | |
Yeah, yeah. Really good. | 1:30:45 | 1:30:47 | |
The first time we tried that was terrifying. | 1:30:47 | 1:30:49 | |
I really did think I was going to fall | 1:30:49 | 1:30:52 | |
from that great height. | 1:30:52 | 1:30:53 | |
But...with Iain, you know he's never ever going to drop you. | 1:30:53 | 1:30:58 | |
Good luck for this one. | 1:30:58 | 1:30:59 | |
-'Ladies and gentlemen...' -Thanks, David. -There it is. -That's us. | 1:30:59 | 1:31:03 | |
'Please stand by on stage. | 1:31:03 | 1:31:04 | |
-'Ladies and gentlemen of the orchestra...' -Nearly there. | 1:31:04 | 1:31:07 | |
In the third act of our ballet, | 1:31:07 | 1:31:09 | |
The Prince is desperately trying to find the mysterious princess | 1:31:09 | 1:31:14 | |
who left her shoe behind when she fled the night before. | 1:31:14 | 1:31:18 | |
APPLAUSE | 1:40:22 | 1:40:25 | |
APPLAUSE | 1:52:24 | 1:52:27 | |
RAPTUROUS APPLAUSE | 1:55:20 | 1:55:24 | |
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE | 1:55:34 | 1:55:38 | |
CHEERING | 1:56:16 | 1:56:19 | |
CHEERING | 1:56:47 | 1:56:50 | |
CHEERING | 1:57:02 | 1:57:04 | |
CHEERING | 1:57:15 | 1:57:18 | |
CHEERING | 1:57:27 | 1:57:30 | |
CHEERING AND WHISTLING | 1:57:41 | 1:57:43 | |
CHEERING | 1:57:53 | 1:57:55 | |
Bravo! | 1:57:56 | 1:57:57 | |
CHEERING | 1:58:00 | 1:58:03 | |
Bravo! | 1:58:03 | 1:58:04 | |
Bravo! | 1:58:15 | 1:58:16 | |
Bravo! | 1:58:20 | 1:58:21 | |
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE | 1:58:26 | 1:58:27 | |
WOLF WHISTLE | 1:58:27 | 1:58:29 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 1:58:44 | 1:58:47 |