Described as the most lavish production performed by the New Zealand Ballet Company at the time, the ballet was filmed by the NZBC for broadcast.
Choreographer for the ballet, Mr Ray Powell, turned from the usual Prokofieff score used by the Bolshoi and Royal Ballet and found music suited to his choreographic style in Rossini’s opera “La Cenerentola.”
“It took me five weeks, working six days a week, to do the choreography for the show and write the scenario. “It’s a completely new ballet, with one act of 38 minutes and the second of just over 40 minutes,”
“Cinderella” had been commissioned by the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, who had paid for the production but had left the choice of choreographer, designer and arranger to the New Zealand Ballet Trust.
“At the end of the television production they handed over the entire thing to the Ballet Company, which was a tremendous help. It is an extremely good way of helping a company which has had a certain amount of struggle with financial and other difficulties. Two years previous the company was seriously set back by the fire which destroyed much of its property,” Mr Powell said. The corporation also withheld the showing of the television production until June, after the tour finished.
He said some problems were encountered with the television filming of the ballet and the dancers never considered they had enough room. However, a special stage was built and a tremendous job was done. “It is nice though to see it in colour because all I saw I of it before was in black and white from the transmission box. It’s in lovely colour and very glamorous.” he said.
Source: Press, 3 April 1969
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