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, the real question is ‘Why wouldn’t we…?’

Some of you might know that 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. Now, the role can be danced by anyone. 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 decided to evolve 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 has been incredibly exciting and gives genuine opportunities for dancers and audiences alike to see themselves represented on stage.

Throughout my career, I have directed and choreographed numerous, famous stories like Romeo & Juliet, The Snow Queen, and The Nutcracker. While I’ve enjoyed the creations and I’m proud of the works, they all share one thing in common: they focused on love stories between a man and a woman. Over the years, I have asked myself a big question, why was I only telling those stories when my own life-experience and community are different? When I was a child and growing up through the final decades of the last century, the world wasn’t as open or accepting as it is today. Same-sex relationships were often kept invisible, and the news and media made many of us feel isolated, as though our lives didn’t quite matter as much as others. It has taken some deep reflection and confidence building to finally feel able to put a relationship like something I would recognise at the heart of a major fairytale.

Ballet remains largely under-representative of the full spectrum of relationships. The choreographer and ‘father’ of ballet in America, George Balanchine, is quoted as saying, ‘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 evolved 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 a ballet which is for all ages depicting two mums, two dads, or different kinds of families. That leaves a gap in the stories we tell and in the people who get to see themselves reflected in them.

Over the last few years, I have noticed how our own productions are being enriched by bringing 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 our audiences can’t get enough of them!

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, the real question is ‘Why wouldn’t we…?’

Thankfully, the world is evolving and is changing. While creating the new versions this year I have looked back with wonder to imagine what it would have meant to me, as a young person, seeing Cinders meet his Prince. I’m thankful we can see wonderfully diverse stories flourishing and these new stories aren’t about sadness or feeling left out. Instead, they are about honest emotions, sincerity and celebrating who we are. In this performance, one of four possible versions of the story will unfold for you – giving everyone the chance to discover their own ‘happily ever after’.