This isn’t the Hansel & Gretel from your childhood…
Expect the unexpected
Think vaudeville, steampunk, flickering silent film and fleet-footed flapper fairies. Step inside the delicious darkness of the famous Grimm fairy tale and follow the trail of breadcrumbs for a night you won’t forget.
An explosion of kiwi talent
As well as dancing with the RNZB for nearly a decade, Loughlan Prior is our Choreographer in Residence and the Creative Director of Prior Visual, a project based film collective. Now he’s turning his hand to this major choreographic work, a twisted take on the original story, laced with darkness and eccentricity.
Aucklander Claire Cowan has been commissioned to create a brand-new soundtrack to accompany this exciting retelling of the story. An experienced orchestrator and symphonic writer who has composed for television and film as well as for orchestras all over New Zealand, Claire collaborates with Aotearoa’s leading pop talent and runs her own performance project, ‘The Blackbird Ensemble’.
So what happens when you throw together New Zealand’s brightest young talents? This world premiere production will be both playful and dark – a deeply original, extravagant and unmissable version of the famous Grimm fairy tale.
Brand new music!
Unheard by any ears and waiting for it’s world premiere, be the first to hear this vibrant, spirited score from one of New Zealand’s brightest musical talents.
Extraordinary costume and set design
Kate Hawley, internationally renowned film and theatre costume designer is adept at creating fantasy worlds – known for her work on Mortal Engines (2018), Crimson Peak (2015) and Pacific Rim (2013). To this brand new ballet, Kate has been injecting reverie, magic and a pinch of the bizarre. Enter our ice cream Witch, chauffeured by a gingerbread manservant on a large steampunk bicycle. Watch as 1920’s style flapper fairies twirl under a moon made of cheese. With ghost children, a Sand Man and a troupe of Gingerbread boogiemen, get ready to play with a colourful cast of characters unlike any you’ve met before.
Indulge to excess
Follow lurking shadows to the Witch’s cottage – a carnival of the grotesque – excessive, playful, oozing and bursting at its gingerbread seams. Treat yourself to a sumptuous night out at the ballet with this stylish feast for the senses.
