In 2011 there was a new Cinderella ballet in Helsinki. The same year in Birmingham there was another new Cinderella, by David Bintley to Sergei Prokofiev's music, with sets and costumes by Emma Ryot. Yesterday I had the chance to see it here in Helsinki. Comparing with what I wrote about the Terence Kohler - Lera Auerbach ballet in 2011, I liked this one better, although I have no actual memory of the other one.

David Bintley's choreography was technically undemanding but pretty - there is no need to comment on the music. What I liked particularly were the sets and lightning. Visually it was very English and reminded me of Tenniel's Alice illustrations. The starry skies were lovely, the Helsingin Sanomat review complained about darkness, but I thought the nocturnal scenery somehow made it all dreamlike, and a fairytale has much in common with dreams, I think. The lizards, the frog and the mice were cute, and even the comic stepsisters brought a slight smile to my lips. And when the clock started ticking I got goose bumps.

There were lots of children in the audience, with some of the little girls dressed in sequins and rhinestones and tulle, and some of them had tubs of popcorn - not something I had ever expected to see or smell in the opera house. As a child I would have loved this ballet, and even now I liked it much better than I had expected.