Snow White, a spellbinding transformation of the Brothers’ Grimm fairy tale, delivers a boldly seductive story. Its fresh and enthralling take on the timeless tension between young Snow White and her jealous stepmother the Queen, is both strikingly sensual and powerfully contemporary – and with high fashion costumes by the legendary fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier, a stunning visual spectacle too.
Snow White is not only the Canadian premiere for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet (RWB), it showcases everything the RWB does best – bold character acting, creative interpretations of familiar stories, and larger-than-life staging and costumes. André Lewis, the RWB’s Artistic Director & CEO sums up his passion for Snow White by saying: “I have been aspiring to bring this production to Winnipeg for years and now it is like “living the dream.”
Masterminded by acclaimed French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj, this beguiling blend of dance, design and art has reawakened the classic story’s themes of beauty and envy for a new age. Combined with soaring sets and the epic symphonies of Gustav Mahler, Snow White is nothing less than visionary!
In the words of Angelin Preljocaj:
“I was very keen to tell a story. I wanted to do something completely different, write something very concrete and offer something magical and enchanted.
Snow White is a narrative ballet with its own dramatic content. It is not easy to tell a story through dance and that is what is so fascinating. How do you get the story across? With Snow White, I’m using an argument that everyone knows, which allows me to concentrate on what is being said by the bodies, the energies, and the space and what the characters feel and experience in order to show how the bodies are transcended.
I have followed the version by the Grimm brothers, with just a few personal variations based on my own analysis of the tale. The wicked stepmother is without a doubt the central character. She is the one who I examine through her narcissistic determination not to give up on seduction and her role as a woman, even if it means sacrificing her stepdaughter.
This ballet is particularly important to me – and I insist on the word “ballet” as it brings together the dancers of the company. They will be dancing to Mahler’s symphonies, whose magnificent excesses are of a romantic nature. Trying to move people emotionally is a delicate undertaking. Mahler’s music has to be used with enormous care, but it is a risk I am keen to take.”
Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet presents Snow White from September 28 - October 1, 2023 at the Centennial Concert Hall. For more information and to secure your seats, please visit rwb.org or call 204.956.2792. Join us for the darkly delectable Snow White! See you there! Presented with the generous support of the Estate of Kevin & Els Kavanagh. Arts Partner – Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Rated PG-13 for Suggestive Content.
