TURIN. 4 - 15 Dec 2010. In Cinderella, choreography by Jean-Christophe Maillot. Under Maillot's direction, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, a top class international dance company. Maillot's Cinderella (first staged in 1999) closely follows Charles Perrault's original tale. Set to a modified version of Prokofiev's original score, the ballet retains its sense of fairy-tale magic with a surprise ending and a set Maillot describes as "an empty book of memories." But it's a bit darker, and reinterprets certain characters, most notably by making Cinderella's birthmother and her fairy godmother one and the same. Maillot also gives Cinderella's father a larger role, and provides an unconventional take on Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters. "The sisters are always represented as grotesque-looking," says Maillot. "In Perrault's book, he describes them as three beautiful women who are ugly on the inside, as I do."

Perhaps the biggest change is that Cinderella remains barefoot throughout the ballet, suggesting her simple beauty. Instead of glass slippers, a visual effect makes her feet appear to sparkle and shine.