Grimms’ Fairy Tales
Three familiar tales, reimagined through contemporary circus
Grimms’ Fairy Tales continues New York Circus Project’s exploration of classic stories through contemporary circus, bringing Rapunzel, Hansel & Gretel, and Cinderella to life through acrobatics, aerials, dance, and physical theatre. Exploring desire, transformation, and the struggle for independence, Grimms’ Fairy Tales reveals the humor, danger, and emotional complexity within familiar stories.
Within the evening-length collection of short works, each tale builds a distinct theatrical world, from intimate storytelling to sweeping ensemble choreography and surprise-filled physical comedy. Like a program of story ballets, the collection invites audiences across generations to experience familiar characters through the thrilling acrobatics and expressive possibilities of the human body.
Rapunzel
What happens when the love that protects you also confines you?
Rapunzel explores isolation, identity, and the struggle for independence through a young woman’s relationship with herself, her home, and the world around her. Through contortion, hair hanging, and tight wire, Rapunzel’s growing awareness of her isolation and the possibilities beyond her tower takes physical form. She must reckon with the intentions of the mother figure she has always understood to love and protect her.
Hansel & Gretel
How do you recognize danger when it offers you everything you want?
A mischievous duet about temptation and youthful innocence, Hansel & Gretel follows two naive but well-intentioned siblings navigating a world where they learn that their ingenuity and reliance on each other may be their best chance at survival. Constantly moving between absurdity and danger, the piece features juggling, hula hoop, clowning, handbalancing, tumbling, and an abundance of candy.
Cinderella
Is love a matter of fate, or something we choose?
An ensemble work exploring longing, transformation, and romantic agency, Cinderella unfolds through dreamlike staging and fluid movement. Its choreography draws on the romantic fantasies embedded in our collective imagination: the promise of being seen and swept away by a love stronger than any real-world obstacle. Through group acrobatics, aerial hoop, aerial straps, dance trapeze, and dance, Cinderella explores the tension between the romance we’re taught to dream of and the reality of the one we discover for ourselves.
Rapunzel premiered at The Egg in Albany in April 2026. Rapunzel was commissioned and developed through Circus Lab, produced by The Big Top Group in partnership with Mt. Ida Preservation Association and Arts, Letters & Numbers.
Cinderella and Hansel & Gretel were developed for presentation at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, DC, where they received their world premieres in July 2026 as part of We The Woolly: Remixing 250.
Grimms’ Fairy Tales is available for booking as a collection of three complementary short works, with an approximate running time of two hours, including intermission. Individual tales are also available for booking: Rapunzel (approximately 30 minutes), Hansel & Gretel (approximately 20 minutes), and Cinderella (approximately 60 minutes)..
For booking inquiries, performance footage, and production information, contact hello@newyorkcircusproject.org.
PREMIERE PRODUCTION CREDITS
CAST
RAPUNZEL
Rapunzel — Ilse Baryshnikov
The Witch — Rowan Allinson
The Prince — Matthew Morgan
HANSEL & GRETEL
Hansel — Maddox Payne
Gretel — Eva Louise Rhinelander
CINDERELLA
Cinderella — Lucy Pickering
Cinderella’s Stepmother / Cinderella’s Mother — Kaisha Dessalines Wright
Cinderella’s Stepsister — Caroline Bertorello
Cinderella’s Other Stepsister — Rowan Allinson
Cinderella’s Prince — Cole Jayme
Cinderella’s Friends — Julia Baccellieri, Maddox Payne, and Eva Louise Rhinelander
CREATIVE TEAM
Director — Sam Landa
Choreographer (Cinderella) — Raul Contreras
Choreographer (Rapunzel) — Georgia Monroe
Lighting Designer — Jasmine Lesane, Nate Files
Costume Designer — Lucy German
Wig Designer (Rapunzel) — Earon Chew Nealey
Production Stage Manager — Allie Emmerich
Associate Choreographers (Rapunzel) — Olivia Lacie Andrews, Raul Contreras
Assistant Stage Manager — Caden Adams
Photographer — Gabriella Spiegel
Production Assistant / Assistant Rigger — Matthew Gately
Videographer / Marketing and Production Assistant — Nora Knight
Produced by Sam Landa, Emma Owens, and Nate Files