Cinderella comes to life again on stage

Suzhou Ballet Theatre (SBT) from China is all set to perform Cinderella, an old classic story, at Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) for two days, tomorrow and November 30. The event is being organised Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra (QPO).The two-day performance will be followed with a workshop titled ‘Dance with Cinderella.’ The workshop will be held at QNCC on December 1 for the young people and children. The Suzhou artistes will explain the story behind the production of the ballet dance.According to the information gathered from QPO, The show will be conducted by Jingkai Sun. Other crew members, include Ying Li and Jiabin Pan, Artistic Directors and Choreographers; Jiang Han, Scenic Designer, Chen Xiaji, Lighting Designer; and Weihong Ran and Jiaguan Xu, Costume Designers.SBT, a dance company, was established in 2007, led by artistic directors Li Ying and Pan Jiabin. The company members come from major ballet companies and dance academies in China. The group is considered one of the youngest, most energetic and vibrant ballet companies in modern China. The company has performed a variety of works from classic to contemporary and modern repertoire. The two artistic directors have created most of the works since the company was established.In 2010, the company choreographed a Chinese version of Romeo and Juliet, which sets itself apart from other classical versions in the world. In 2016, a new production of Cinderella told the classic story in an innovative way to the audiences.The company has already received national and international respect. It has received many awards in China and abroad. As far as Cinderella, it is a well-known classic story, passed down through many generations. Cinderella was first made into a ballet in 1815, but the current Cinderella ballet was written by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev in 1944. It was first presented at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre in 1945. SBT is the first with an original production in China.In the story, Cinderella, a beautiful, brave and kind-hearted girl, loses her mother in her childhood. She never forgets her mother and remembers every piece of advice her mother had given her. Cinderella’s father remarries a cold, cruel woman who has two daughters of her own. When the father dies, Cinderella’s wicked stepmother turns her into a virtual servant in her own house. Meanwhile, across town in the castle, the king determines that his son the prince should find a suitable bride. So the king invites every eligible maiden in the kingdom to a Royal Ball, where his son will be able to choose his bride. Cinderella has no suitable party dress for a ball, but as she ends up making one on her own, the evil stepsisters immediately tear it apart on the evening of the ball. After the stepmother ushers her daughters out the door, Cinderella rushes out of the chateau and into the garden, crying on a bench, that no matter how hard she tries to believe, things will never get better for her. However, she suddenly hears a voice, and encounters an cheerful woman in a light-blue cloak. The woman claims she is her fairy godmother, and intends to help Cinderella go to the ball.Using her magic wand, the Fairy turns a pumpkin into a coach, 4 of the mice into horses, the farm’s horse into a coachman, and the family dog into a footman. The final touch is fixing Cinderella’s dress, which is turned into a beautiful white gown, complete with glass slippers.However, the Fairy cautions her that she all these things will only last until the final stroke of midnight, when everything will turn back to normal. Cinderella then quickly boards her coach, and is taken to the castle. Losing the glass slipper, and the rest, as they say, is fairy tale history.Jingkai Sun is fast gaining an international reputation as one of the most exciting and promising Chinese conductors of his generation. In 2018,Sun was appointed as the resident conductor of the Tianjin Symphony Orchestra.In November 2016, Sun made his debut in Doha conducting the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra and Suzhou Ballet Theatre in the very first China-Qatar co-production of Nutcracker.However, Artistic directors Jiabin Pan and Ying Li are husband and wife. Both are trained dancers and have illustrious careers in ballet dance. They retired in 2006 after making their mark in the field. In 2007, they returned to Suzhou to further their love of ballet and pursue their passion of choreography. Their creative works for SBT include, Double Happiness, Chopin’s Poem, Dancing on Rock (2008), Su Show (2009), Romeo and Juliet (2010), Coppelia (2011), Legend of Beauty (2012), The Nutcracker (2013), Carmen (2014) and Cinderella (2016). Their innovative creations have received extensive recognition.The other members of the ballet group include Shen Yuem, Liu Yuchengjie, Wu Xu, Shangguan Yuting, Min Xueqing, Wen Shaowei, Min Zihan, Zhou Qiran, Shen Jinyu, Hu Yang, Cui Saiwa, Su Yulin, Liu Yanxu, Zhang Yixu, Lu Zhen, Sun Yi, Chen Tingting, Tan Xianghuizi, Dong Qiang, Ouyang Sunan, Liao Ning, Hu Jiang, Xing Wei, Yang Tianbo, Sun Mengyao, Zhong Chongjia, and Zhao Xu.