Ballet Preljocaj: Snow White

Snow White is a great romantic contemporary ballet, based on the Grimm brothers’ version of the fairytale.

For this miraculous performance, Angelin Preljocaj brings together the company’s twenty-six dancers to the most beautiful scores of Gustav Mahler’s symphonies. The costumes are by Jean Paul Gaultier, the sets by Thierry Leproust.

"I was very keen to tell a story, offer something magical and enchanted. No doubt it was to avoid getting into a rut.  And also because, like everyone, I love stories.  I have followed the version by the Grimm brothers, with just a few personal variations based on my own analysis of the symbols in the tale.  Bettelheim describes Snow White as an œdipus in reverse.  The wicked stepmother is without doubt the central character in the tale. 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.  The understanding of symbols belongs to adults as well as children; it speaks to everyone, and that’s why I like fairy tales.”  

Snow White is a narrative ballet with its own dramatic content, telling the episodes of a story that everyone is familiar with. The places are represented by Thierry Leproust’s extraordinary sets. The 26 dancers of the company play their parts in costumes by Jean Paul Gaultier, which elevate the legend of Snow White. After a triumphant decade of touring this masterpiece for all ages, Angelin Preljocaj has agreed to perform it again specially for the Opéra Royal de Versailles. The miracle will unfold once again, leaving all generations absolutely awestruck.

Performance created in residency at the Grand Théâtre de Provence 
Co-production by the Lyon Dance Biennale/Conseil Général du Rhône, Théâtre National de Chaillot, Grand Théâtre de Provence, Staatsballet Berlin (Germany)
Choreography awarded the 2009 Globe de Cristal prize
Premiered on 25th September 2008 at the Lyon Dance Biennale