Cinderella and Her Ball

The Moscow Festival Ballet whisks a lonely girl from the clutches of her evil stepmother into the arms of a handsome prince when the company performs the classic ballet Cinderella at the South Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Harbour Boulevard, Camden NJ, on Friday, April 23, at 8pm. Tickets are $31 and $39. Presented by the South Jersey Performing Arts Center (SJPAC), this timeless classic also features a unique pre-theater opportunity –- a Cinderella Ball -- for young girls and their fathers, or favorite princes.

Prior to the 8pm curtain, a charming father/daughter ball will take place at 7:15 in SJPAC’s Studio Theater, inviting all little princesses ages three to 12 to dress up and dance with their daddy or favorite grown-up. An assortment of desserts and punch will be served as music plays for everyone’s enjoyment. The pre-show ball is free with ticket purchase for the evening’s performance.

Under the artistic direction of Sergei Radchenko, the Moscow Festival Ballet is noted for its updated productions of timeless classics. Cinderella features a 50-member company which includes many leading dancers from Russia, along with stars from the Bolshoi and Kirov ballets. Since its inception in 1989, the Moscow Festival Ballet has completed two tours of Europe, with extraordinary receptions in the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands. The company has also performed in the Far East, including tours of Japan, Korea and Singapore.

Danced to the music of Sergei Prokofiev, the three-act ballet opens with Cinderella cleaning the kitchen, and her horrible stepmother and stepsisters preparing for the Royal Ball hosted by the prince. As a dressmaker and wigmaker are busy adorning the stepsisters, a dance master is attempting the impossible task of teaching the sisters the rudiments of dancing. Suddenly, an old beggar woman enters, and the stepmother orders her to leave. But Cinderella is filled with compassion and offers the old lady some bread. After the family departs for the ball, Cinderella, who remains behind, pretends she's at the royal dance by pretending the kitchen broom is her dance partner. Lonely, she bursts into tears. At that moment, the beggar woman reappears and changes into a beautiful fairy godmother. Then, the godmother transforms Cinderella's rag into a magnificent gown and her shoes into glass slippers. The fairy also changes a pumpkin and four lizards into a coach and horses to drive Cinderella to the ball like a princess. The fairy warns Cinderella that at midnight the gown will change back into rags.

When Cinderella enters the grand ballroom, the prince immediately falls in love with her. While the prince and Cinderella are dancing together, the clock strikes midnight. Cinderella's clothes turn back into rags, and she rushes from the ballroom. The prince cannot restrain her, but finds one of the glass slippers, which she has lost in haste.

Back in the kitchen, Cinderella remembers the ball as if it were a beautiful dream. When the stepmother and stepsisters return, they are boastful of their evening at the palace. The prince and his court arrive in search of the owner of the glass slipper, and the sisters vainly try to squeeze their oversized feet into the tiny slipper. When the prince notices Cinderella sitting shyly by the fire, he asks her to try it on, and the slipper fits. The prince is overjoyed in spite of Cinderella's ragged appearance and asks her to marry him.

Cinderella is made possible, in part, by a grant from Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program.

The presenter of professional touring theater, dance, and musical productions South Jersey Performing Arts Center offers an exciting lineup for the Fleet Season 2003-2004. In addition to the Studio Theatre and the Rand Theatre at the Tweeter Center along the Camden Waterfront, SJPAC also presents at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Camden and at the Scottish Rite Auditorium and Ballroom in Collingswood, NJ. Three of this season's shows are co-presented with Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts and will take place at the Gordon Theatre.

SJPAC is located along the beautiful Camden Waterfront at the Tweeter Complex, One Harbour Boulevard, Camden, NJ 08103. Discounts for multiple performance purchases are available for the Fleet Season 2003-2004. For information, please call the box office at (856) 342-6633 or visit www.SJPAC.com

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Author: Press Release