News
Matthew Bourne brings 'Cinderella' to Beijing
Updated: Apr 19, 2018
chinadaily.com.cn
Print
Share - WeChat
A stage photo of Cinderella. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Matthew Bourne's stage production, Cinderella, will make its debut at Tianqiao Performing Arts Center in Beijing from August 7 to 12.
In 2016, Bourne brought his show, Sleeping Beauty, to the venue and the first stop of Cinderella's international tour will be in Beijing.
The internationally celebrated choreographer shared his story of Cinderella through a video link at Tianqiao Performing Arts Center recently.
Bourne's Cinderella was born in 1997, following the big success of his Swan Lake. When it came to making his version of Cinderella, he wanted to do something different. Cinderella is a story that every culture has its own version, which shows it's a universal story.
He decided to set his version of Cinderella into World War II during the London Blitz, when the city was attacked regularly by bombs.
"People going missing, new love found, people falling in love very quickly, and people never knowing what the future might be, the theme worked very well with the story," Bourne said.
A stage photo of Cinderella. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
What triggered the choreographer to set the story during World War II was that Sergei Prokofiev wrote the music for Cinderella during the 1940s.
"His music, which I listened to for all those years, it seems that all my ideas fell into place," the choreographer said.
According to Jiang Tao, vice-general manager of Tianqiao Performing Arts Center, about 850 performances will be staged at the venue in 2018.
Many international stage productions will be brought to the venue. Besides Bourne's Cinderella, other highlights will see National Theater's acclaimed West-End play, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, will be staged at the Tianqiao Performing Arts Center from May 24 to 27, and theatrical ice skating company, The Imperial Ice Stars's production, Swan Lake on Ice, will be staged at the venue from August 15 to 19.
The second Lao She International Theater Festival, which paying tribute to Lao She (1899-1966), one of the most famous Chinese novelist and dramatist, will return from September to October this year.
