Creating a new Cinderella step by step

This was largely out of an urgent need to fill a leadership void in the sector. But one of MacDonald’s current roles, as choreographer for a re-imagined Cinderella, is perhaps less about need and more about passion.

“We were going to do a ‘normal’ version of Cinderella,” MacDonald explains, “but we looked at the cost implications, and using the original Prokofiev score was going to kill us.

“We began, sort of half-heartedly, to look at other music, and then one day Dirk (Badenhorst, South African Mzansi Ballet’s CEO) casually suggested to me, ‘Why don’t you just choreograph a new one?’. Other cost implications, including bringing in a new choreographer, made that idea seem better and better, and here we are now.”

MacDonald is not new to this job – he’s done it successfully on a number of relatively small productions, but Cinderella is the first full-length ballet he’s choreographed.

“It’s been a huge learning curve so far, especially working with an existing set design,” he says.

That’s not to say MacDonald is simply pandering to what’s already around.

“I’d like a market scene to open the show,” he reveals, “which is not in any other production of this show. And I want to have things happening on different levels at the same time, so the audience’s eyes can move from one place to another to take it all in.”

Incorporating such innovations is proving to be something of a challenge, given that South African Mzansi Ballet is a multi-faceted, in-demand company.

“We’re also involved in a lot of corporate work, and the Johannesburg City Festival, so the dancers have a lot to worry about, so there have been some worrying times, but I’m loving it.

“And it’s great to be working with the dancers on new ideas. I can ask Burnice Silvius for a certain kind of movement, and she’ll be able to adapt it to what she is capable of delivering. I’ve had to try and curb my tendency to change things, too – so far, I don’t think I’ve been too bad…”

Choreographing a classic tale puts MacDonald in the company of similarly gifted artists over the last couple of hundred years – including the creators of today’s classic ballets.

“There are only three other companies worldwide who have done Cinderella to the Strauss music, as we will be doing,” says MacDonald.

“I haven’t really thought of the historical angle – we’re in a mindset where the challenge needs completing in time, so we’re not yet aware of the bigger implications.

“Also, though my choreography is new, there will be ties to familiarity for audiences. There are lots of links to the Disney version of the story, and I’ve added details that I hope will help kids relate to it.”

Ballet, with its limited range of movements and traditional steps, must be more of a challenge for a choreographer aiming for freshness than other types of dance.

“The thing is that people say, ‘That’s the same step I saw in Swan Lake or Romeo and Juliet’,” MacDonald agrees.

“But it’s the context that makes it work. My personal comfort zone is with things that are quite boxed in; I’ve had to make things flow more for the Strauss music, which is quite waltzy. On the other hand, I need to be careful, as people will get bored if it’s all waltzes.”

To this end, MacDonald’s taken charge of the soundtrack as well.

“I’ve re-arranged much of the music,” he says, “and I had to get expert help to make sure there were no jarring transitions.

“As a choreographer, if I don’t see something when I hear the music, I can’t plan the steps. So I’ve been cutting and pasting various music segments to fit specific scenes. And changes have had to be made all along there – sometimes I’ve had to adapt my vision to the dancers’ bodies, as the reality of what is possible is sometimes different to the vision in my head.”