Scottish Ballet now offers audiences the choice of four possible love stories in one magical tale: Cinders!

Artistic Director and CEO Christopher Hampson reflects on how more fluid casting for productions and films has opened doors to richer storytelling. Drawing on his experiences and the company’s evolving approach to gender and identity, Christopher shares a personal and artistic journey toward a festive show that shares more expressions and representations of love on the stage.

So, on approaching Cinders for a revival the question arose; Should we cast a male Cinders meeting his Prince and a female Cinders meeting her Princess? Ultimately, it is the wrong question. It’s not “Should we…” it’s more “Why wouldn’t we…?

In 2023, I unveiled a new version of the Cinderella story called Cinders! and within this new interpretation I created the narrative so that audiences would either see the story of a female or a male Cinders.

After a critically acclaimed and successful run over the winter season, thousands of audience members delighted in the surprise of seeing whose dream would come true – a male Cinders, or a female Cinders. Ultimately, did it really matter when the story being told is one of an orphan searching for a way to a better life and finding a soulmate along the way? The feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

Over the years access to roles within the Scottish Ballet repertoire has diversified, unlocking opportunities that were previously unavailable for dancers. In 2021, I cast Madeline Squire in the role of Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker. Since then, the role can be either male or female. By doing this we achieved greater breadth to the interpretation of this central figure, and demonstrated that creating ‘magic’ and ‘dream-making’ didn’t lie exclusively with a male character.

More recently, and in a less visible way, the Snow Wolves in The Snow Queen are now danced by any gender of dancer. Most in the audience won’t notice as the dancers are wearing masks, and who’s to say what gender the wolves are. It’s fiction!

This year I am evolving Cinders further to include a few performances where a female Cinders will meet her Princess, or a male Cinders will meet his Prince. Developing the ability to interpret these roles even more is incredibly exciting and I can’t wait to give genuine opportunities for dancers and audiences alike to see themselves represented on stage.

I’ve created versions of Romeo and Juliet, Giselle, The Snow Queen and The Nutcracker, all centring around heterosexual relationships. Why, when my own life experience is so different? Well, I am a product of the 1970’s when homosexuality remained firmly ‘in the closet’ and tolerance and acceptance was low. The 80’s and 90’s weren’t much better as the media, government and public reaction to the AIDS pandemic ensured that many of us grew up feeling ostracised and marginal. In the last few years, I have become more reflective about my own choreographic and directing career and it has taken me until now to feel safe enough to create a major story which puts at its centre a relationship which reflects anything of my own experience. Happily, much has evolved since my formative years. Same-sex stories through books, film, TV and theatre have flourished and increasingly have moved on from focusing on the negativity and trauma of sexuality. They now include greater exploration of feelings, loving relationships, honest emotions and ….happily ever after

Sadly, ballet remains largely under-representative of the full spectrum of relationships. The choreographer and ‘father’ of ballet in America once said, “There are no mothers-in-law in ballet”, the inference that ballet isn’t equipped to convey the complexity of a standard family tree. And during the time he was creating it was probably true. But ballet has evlolved and choreographers and directors can represent complexity in all its forms – just look at Wayne MacGregor’s Woolf Works, or simply any of Matthew Bourne’s productions. Yet still, same-sex relationships remain in the realm of adult-themed stories within dance. I can’t think of one ballet which is for all ages depicting two mums, two dads or a mix of family support. Which means that we don’t represent a lot of the people coming to see our productions.

Over the last few years, I notice how our  productions are being enriched by allowing broader interpretations. While some sceptics have countered that stories are perceived to be ‘ruined’, or ‘something special taken away’ (and these are just some of the more polite criticisms), this hasn’t been our experience. Quite the reverse. The stories have become richer, more interesting and more representative of today.

So, on approaching Cinders for a revival the question arose; Should we cast a male Cinders meeting his Prince and a female Cinders meeting her Princess? Ultimately, it is the wrong question. It’s not “Should we…” it’s more “Why wouldn’t we…?”