Cinderella

Frederick Ashton's beloved 1948 production for the Royal Ballet brought Prokofiev's glittering score to life in a ballet that blends comedy, tenderness and spectacle. A kind-hearted girl endures her stepsisters' cruelty before her Fairy Godmother transforms her fate, sending her to a royal ball where she dances with a prince — only to vanish at midnight, leaving behind a glass slipper. Prokofiev's richly expressive score, composed between 1940 and 1944, gives the story warmth and depth, while Ashton's choreography pays loving homage to the classical tradition of Petipa.