The story is that Cinderella dances with the prince, drops her shoe, puts it back on, they get together, marry and live happily ever after.
That concise - if somewhat abridged - interpretation of the fairytale classic was the version that a frosty-looking bloke called Father Winter offered to 560 people, mostly very young children, at the Aotea Centre in Auckland on Saturday.
Mr Winter told the story so that the youngsters, many of whom were preschoolers, could understand the Royal New Zealand Ballet version of the long-loved story that they were just about to watch.
Spokeswoman Donna Vieira said the idea behind the one-off Cinderella Fairy Party was to involve younger people in ballet, letting them meet the actors and get autographs.
Nearly all the children who turned up were dressed as fairies, in keeping with the theme.
The children were fairly well behaved during the ballet and there were few reports of running in the aisles - despite the production lasting more than two hours.
Cinderella fairies add extra dash of magic
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