The Sleeping Beauty
Introduction
The Dutch National Ballet is reviving this jewel in its crown, in the 1981 version by Englishman Peter Wright – which is still regarded by experts as the finest ‘Beauty’ in the world.
programme
Once upon a time, there was...
...a choreographer who based his new ballet on one of the best-known fairytales of all time. But he was not any old choreographer, so neither was it any old ballet.
The Sleeping Beauty (1890), created by the French-Russian choreographer Marius Petipa, is the purest and most demanding of classical ballets. With its rich dance vocabulary and dazzling virtuosity, it is still regarded as the yardstick by which to measure ballet companies and individual dancers.
In the festive month of December, the Dutch National Ballet is reviving this jewel in its crown, in the 1981 version by Englishman Peter Wright – which is still regarded by experts as the finest ‘Beauty’ in the world. Wright’s production has all the glitter and style that befits a ballet originally intended for the court of the Russian tsar. Much of the glamour is provided by Philip Prowse, who designed the dazzling, golden-hued scenery and costumes.
The Sleeping Beauty, based on Charles Perrault’s La Belle au Bois Dormant, tells the story of Princess Aurora, who pricks her finger on a spindle on her sixteenth birthday, as foretold in the curse pronounced by the wicked fairy at her christening. The good fairy, however, manages to avert the death of the princess. Instead, she falls into a deep sleep for a hundred years, to be awoken at last by a prince’s kiss.
‘Aristocracy and sophistication in a unique production’
- NRC Handelsblad
‘One of the greatest attractions of the Dutch National Ballet’
- De Telegraaf
‘If you have never seen a big classical ballet, this is the one to start with’
- Algemeen Dagblad?