Anonymous wrote:OP here. Our kids (4 and 6) made it through about half of it, which I consider a success. They should really have noted recommended ages on their website -- it's Cinderella, after all. The production was good, just was not really meant for small kids.
Well, I guess the $400 we spent on tickets went to supporting the arts...
OP, we're pretty frequent ballet-goers. I love these dark versions of classics but totally agree that they should be clearly noted as not appropriate for young kids. I hope you will suggest to the KC that it put a single, simple "Recommended for ages X and up" line on the plot summaries or ticket sale web page for events they know may draw families with younger children (in other words--ballets or plays that are new takes on fairy or traditional tales). I checked their site and there's nothing like that there, to my surprise. I'm glad your kids saw half the show and hope they were engaged by it.
I note that the way one local theater (not dance but plays/musicals) does this is "if this were a film it would be rated R" etc. I saw that just today when buying tickets and thought it was useful.
If your kids like ballet -- Local ballet schools' shows are a better bet for taking very young kids to see story ballets.