Špalíček

About the show

In the prologue a chorus of children play four song and dance games where the fairy tale action is danced while singers narrate the stories. which include the chicken and a hen; the former chokes on a large grain of corn and needs to swallow it with water. The hen tries the spring, dress-maker and tailor, but heaven sends the water to save the chicken's life. Then comes Puss in Boots, again with much dance, but no chorus. Three children's games follow: the maidens, the water-sprite, and the wolf. Act II depicts the story of the Cobbler and Death: an old shoemaker falls out with his neighbours and leaves his home. A butterfly leads him to a black tower in which a princess is held prisoner by a giant. Between them the butterfly and cobbler free the princess and he wins a sack inside of which is death; as long as he wanders abroad with death no one dies, but, exhausted he arrives at heaven and the sack is opened. This tale is mostly danced. Act III opens with the legend of Dorothea of Caesarea where the girl is killed by a crowd, but the mood changes for Cinderella set in a Czech village, finishing with waltzes to be danced at her wedding.