Ballet

Cinderella

1 upcoming performance in New York

Prokofiev’s *Cinderella* (1940–44) turns the familiar fairy tale into a full-length classical ballet shaped by clear character music, comedy, and strict formal dancing. Since its 1945 Bolshoi premiere, it has become a repertory work that New York audiences have repeatedly encountered through visiting companies and major local stages, a marker of how Soviet-era narrative ballet entered the city’s mainstream. Current NYC-area performances span NJPAC and David Geffen Hall, including the State Ballet Theatre of Ukraine and the New York Philharmonic under Elim Chan, with cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason featured. One reason it lasts is that it treats the stepsisters as foolish rather than cruel, shifting the story’s weight toward human behavior instead of pure moral lesson.