Cinderella goes to war for new production

Matthew Bourne, the ballet director who dressed men in tutus for a hugely successful production of Swan Lake, plans an equally radical interpretation of Cinderella.

A corps de ballet of muscled male dancers brought packed houses for Adventures In Motion Pictures' Swan Lake last year.

Matthew Bourne's production ran longer than any previous commercial ballet in London and is now playing in Los Angeles.

Purists will be relieved to hear that a ballerina will take the principal role of Cinderella in Bourne's adaptation of Prokoviev's classic.

One of the Royal Ballet's leading stars, Sarah Wildor, will guest for the season as the neglected beauty.

However, perhaps to prolong his reputation for the controversial and the surprising, it was rumoured that the fairy-tale will be re-located to the the Second World War era.

"There will be a twist in the tale, that's for sure," a spokesman said yesterday.

Ms Wildor's partner, Adam Cooper, has joined the company full time along with Lynn Seymour.

There will be a company of more than 30 dancers for the Matthew Bourne production at the Piccadilly Theatre, London from October.