A full-length classical ballet for full symphony orchestra and piano.
It will have a duration of two hours, including a twenty minute interval.

“The Sapphire Gown is like no other gown. Nobody knows where it comes from, and nobody knows how it came to be. It is as mysterious as it is blue, the bodice adorned with sapphires and the skirt crafted from layers and layers of frothy chiffon, that swish as one walks, beguiling its admirers. However, with its beauty comes a certain bewitchment, something otherworldly and potentially malevolent. The wearer is treated almost like a puppet that is hurled into a position of deepest despair, losing control of their minds and their choices, until it is too late. Yet, the gown survives, ready for its next victim.”

A tragic fairytale centred around a cursed dress, The Sapphire Gown follows the undoing of three young women who are seduced by its charm and glamour, only to meet with grief, misfortune, and catastrophe. Displayed in the shop window of an old dress boutique, home to the poverty-stricken remains of the Tailleur family and a mysterious piano playing orphan, The Sapphire Gown entrances anyone who walks past it, representing a life of beauty, prosperity, and desirability.

One by one, Vera, Etta, and Rosa are momentarily given a chance to live out this hazy dream and be the woman who wears the dress. However, no sooner have they felt the faint glimmer of success, their candle is swiftly snuffed out, revealing the regrettable loss of that which was most important to them.

Poignant and heart-breaking, this woeful tale serves as a reminder that an obsession over material possessions can become the source of our own destruction.

A shorter twenty minute solo dance piece for full symphony orchestra, depicting the creation of the gown.
There is no aspiration for the full fairy tale to be choreographed for the stage, but the synopsis for the story is shared here, for context…

“As Cora walked, she wrapped her coat around her closely. At first it was because the cold winter air stung at her fingertips and her ears, and she had forgotten to wear her scarf and gloves. But soon, she was overcome by a distinct wave of discomfort. She felt unsettled and unnerved, as though she was being watched. Her intuition compelled her to look behind, but each time she couldn’t see anything or anyone else as far as her eyesight would permit. It was dark, and in the patches where the streetlamp light faded away, the pitch-black shadows were like an invisibility cloak for nefarious lurkers, and she couldn’t shake the sense that she was being followed.”

Young and beautiful, Cora has grown up in a pretty village full of spiteful and jealous people.

Although her looks catch her a lot of attention from the boys, many of the girls struggle to hide their envy. Watching her set herself up as a seamstress in her own apartment and fall in love with the man of her dreams is too much for them to bear. And so, one night, Cora’s life is completely overturned when she is the victim of a brutal attack.

Heartbroken by her horrific disfigurements, her distress and anguish soon transform into a simmering undercurrent of rage. Desperate to regain her beauty and have her revenge, she finds herself led down a path of sorcery and witchcraft from which there is no return. Unable to hit back at her aggressors, Vana, Effy, and Rita, she creates a gorgeous sapphire gown, aiming to entice three innocent women and capture their souls, in an effort to bring back what was rightfully hers.

However, failing to read the curse correctly, she makes a terrible mistake that causes her to lose something far dearer to her heart. Ashamed and devastated, Cora is forced to recognise the true cost of her own selfishness and superficial vanity.