Cinderella is a ballet with music by the Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. It tells the fairy tale that children already know, with a few surprises: fairies of the four seasons, a clock that comes to life, and a prince who travels the world with a slipper. This page tells the story act by act, in words to read aloud.
Quick facts
- Music by: Sergei Prokofiev, who also wrote Peter and the Wolf
- First danced: 1945, in Moscow
- Acts: three
- Length: about two and a half hours, with two breaks
- Based on: the fairy tale as told by the French writer Charles Perrault
- Good to know: children know the story, which makes it a common first ballet
Who is who
- Cinderella: a kind girl who does all the work of the house
- The stepmother: proud and bossy
- The two stepsisters: vain, clumsy, and always squabbling
- Cinderella’s father: gentle, and afraid of his wife
- The Fairy Godmother: she first appears as an old beggar woman
- The fairies of spring, summer, autumn, and winter
- The Prince
Act 1: at home
Cinderella sits by the fire. Her two stepsisters are sewing a shawl, and they quarrel over it until it rips in two.
An old beggar woman comes to the door. The stepsisters chase her off. Cinderella is kind to her and gives her something to eat.
An invitation has come to a ball at the palace. Dressmakers, a hairdresser, and a dancing master arrive to get the sisters ready. The dancing lesson is a mess. Then the family sweeps out the door, and Cinderella is left behind.
She picks up a broom and dances with it, as if it were a partner at the ball.
The beggar woman returns. She throws off her rags, and she is a fairy godmother. She calls four fairies, one for each season. Each fairy dances and brings a gift, and together they dress Cinderella for the ball.
The godmother gives one warning. At midnight, the magic ends. Twelve small figures jump out of the clock to show Cinderella the hours. Then a coach carries her away under the stars.
Act 2: the ball
The palace is full of guests. The stepsisters show off their dancing, and no one is impressed.
The Prince makes his entrance. Then the music changes, and a stranger arrives. No one knows her, not even her own family. The Prince cannot look away.
They dance the great waltz. Servants hand around oranges, which were a rare treat. The Prince gives one to Cinderella, and the stepsisters fight over theirs.
Cinderella and the Prince dance alone. She forgets the time.
Then the clock begins to tick, and it strikes twelve. Cinderella runs for the stairs. One slipper falls off, and she cannot stop for it. The Prince picks it up.
Act 3: the search
The Prince sets out to find the girl whose foot fits the slipper. He calls in every shoemaker in the land. He travels to far countries. No one fits.
At home, Cinderella wakes by the fire. Was it a dream? She finds the other slipper in her pocket and hides it.
The Prince arrives. The stepsisters push and squeeze, and the slipper will not go on. The stepmother tries too.
Cinderella kneels to help her sister, and the second slipper falls out of her apron. The Prince knows her at once.
The Fairy Godmother appears one last time. The kitchen fades away, and Cinderella and the Prince dance in a garden full of stars.
What to listen for
The clock at midnight. A wood block ticks, bells toll, and the brass grow huge and frightening. It is one of the best-known moments in the score.
The great waltz. It sweeps and swirls, and it has a dark edge, as if it knew that midnight was coming.
The four seasons. Each fairy has a short dance: spring is light, summer is lazy, autumn is quick and gusty, and winter is cold and still.
A joke with oranges. When the oranges come out, Prokofiev plays a march from one of his own operas, The Love for Three Oranges.
The ending. The last music is slow and soft. It does not end with a bang.
Read Prokofiev for kids.
About the ballet
Prokofiev began the music in 1940. Then war came to his country, and he set the ballet aside for other work. He finished it in 1944, and it was first danced a few months after the war ended.
Dance companies stage the story in different ways. In one famous English version, the two stepsisters are played by men, for laughs. Some versions leave out the Prince’s travels.
Things to do together
Dance with a broom. Play the waltz. Take a broom for a partner.
Beat the clock. Play the midnight music. Start at one end of the room, and get to the other end before the last stroke.
Four seasons. Play each fairy’s dance. Ask your child to guess the season before you say it.
Find the slipper. Hide one shoe. The seeker has until the music stops to find it.
Compare two Cinderellas. Read a picture book of the story. Then list what the ballet adds and what it leaves out.
Questions to ask
- Why did Cinderella give bread to the beggar woman?
- How does the music tell you that midnight is close?
- Which season’s fairy would you like to be?
- Why does the ballet end with quiet music?
Print and play
Draw the midnight scene on a listening journal page. Read ballet stories for kids, ballet for kids, and the Peter and the Wolf story.
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Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.