The Sleeping Beauty

Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre, Grand Stage, Novosibirsk, Russia

Scene 1 from the ballet "The Sleeping Beauty", photo 2

Scene 2 from the ballet "The Sleeping Beauty", photo 3

Scene 3 from the ballet "The Sleeping Beauty", photo 4

Scene 4 from the ballet "The Sleeping Beauty", photo 5

Scene 6 from the ballet "The Sleeping Beauty", photo 6

Scene 7 from the ballet "The Sleeping Beauty", photo 7

Scene 8 from the ballet "The Sleeping Beauty", photo 8

Scene 5 from the ballet "The Sleeping Beauty", photo 9

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7 PM

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Important Info

Type: Ballet

City: Novosibirsk, Russia

Starts at: 19:00

Acts: 3

Intervals: 2

Duration: 2h 50min

Ticket delivery: E-Tickets

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

Can I choose my seats?

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Overview

Tchaikovsky's “The Sleeping Beauty” ballet rendered by a Spanish choreographer Nacho Duato is a unique approach for a classic work of our contemporary master, an outstanding smart and kind man. In this production, Nacho Duato managed to create a charming magic mood in the dance language. "I wanted to speak to the audience through their hearts – told the choreographer – you know these tales for kids – you take one card, it’s a wood, you pick another one, it’s a castle... It’s a tale, a fairy-tale for kids! This is especially important nowadays when so many horrible things are happening”. The perfect feel of the music, the subtle sense of humor will be appreciated by an audience of all ages. Created in St.-Petersburg in 2011, this ballet holds a place in the repertoires of the Mikhailovsky theatre and Berlin State Opera.

Duato created his Sleeping Beauty in 2011 during his brief stint as director of the Mikhailovsky Ballet in St. Petersburg. The brave idea allegedly was to produce a Sleeping Beauty for the 21^st century. Yet that turned out to be more of a fairytale than the ballet's subject itself. If anything the production was proof that money cannot buy everything. Duato's Beauty still presents itself as classical ballet, albeit one that is scuttled by a basic mistrust of text, spirit and music. The result is by and large a very unhappy wedding between classical and contemporary styles. Pointework in convulsion mode; Martha Graham as princess Aurora. Forget the multilayered complexity of the original, the fairytale atmosphere, or the enchantment.

With its truncated narrative, botched choreography and mutilated score, Duato's staging don't stand much of a chance. Tottering between hilarious (the Prologue variations, the nervous courtiers) and properly embarrassing (the scenes with that fearful Carabosse in drag), it doesn't matter that echoes of Petipa ring through the key moments, Duato never finds his own voice. Worst of all, while this is one of the richest and most profound dance scores ever made, Duato does nothing with it. In short, a travesty of The Sleeping Beauty rather than the version for the 21st century.

The elegantly fresh sets and pastel-tinted costumes from Angelina Atlagic run away with the honors in this production. The present release from BelAir Classiques documents a performance by the Berlin State Ballet, the company Duato is heading since 2014. By all accounts, the production wasn't well received in the German capital either, which makes its release on HD video rather bizarre. Iana Salenko and Marian Walter are excellent dancers, yet in spite of their fluent partnership, they never manage to crack the ice. Neither does the rest of the cast, laboring through it all with blind devotion. They deserve better than this.

History

Premiere of this production: 03 January 1890, Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg

The Sleeping Beauty is a ballet in a prologue and three acts, first performed in 1890. The music was composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (his opus 66). The score was completed in 1889, and is the second of his three ballets. The original scenario was conceived by Ivan Vsevolozhsky, and is based on Charles Perrault's La Belle au bois dormant. The choreographer of the original production was Marius Petipa.

Synopsis

Prologue

It’s princess Aurora’s christening. Members of the royal household are waiting for King Florestan and the Queen. Master of Ceremonies Catalabutte is checking the invitation list. The celebration begins. Aurora’s godmother the Lilac Fairy appears surrounded by her retinue. Good Fairies congratulate the girl of the day.

Frightened servants discuss the arrival of another guest, the evil Carabosse Fairy, who hasn’t received her invitation due to Catalabutte’s negligence. King and Queen look disturbed, foreboding trouble. Carabosse Fairy appears. How can she be forgotten? To requite the wrongs she announces that Aurora will become the most beautiful and smart princess of all, but she will prick at a knitting needle and fall into eternal sleep.

Lilac Fairy softens the sentence of an evil Fairy. She predicts that Aurora will fall into sleep, but not forever – on one day a prince charmed by her beauty will wake her from everlasting sleep.

Act I

Princess Aurora is sixteen years old. This festive occasion gathers noble guests and suitors.

Aurora appears. Suitors are being introduced to her. The Princess is nice with everyone, ready to dance with each of them, but no one captures her preference. Suddenly, Aurora sees an old lady among the guests; she’s holding a strange item in her hands, which draws her attention. Intrigued, the Princess takes the needle and starts dancing with it. Once she pricks a finger, Aurora faints and falls.

The guests are petrified to recognize the evil Carabosse Fairy. She exults in her victory.

Lilac Fairy, Aurora’s protector soothes her parents. Princess Aurora will not die. She will only drag the whole kingdom into an everlasting sleep. As the century goes by the Princess will wake up and the evil curse will fall.

Act II

A hundred years have passed. Prince Désiré is hunting in the forest with his friends and posse. The hunters and courtesans spend their time playing and entertaining. Once Prince Désiré is left alone, the Lilac Fairy appears before him. She tells him about Aurora. He is craving to see her. Prince Désiré and the Lilac Fairy are floating through the silent forest to the palace, wrapped up in slumber.

Carabosse Fairy and her servants reside in a park overrun with weeds. All of a sudden they hear the sound of the approaching Lilac Fairy.

Carabosse has no power over her.

Désiré finds the Princess and brings her back with a kiss.

Act III

It’s the wedding of Princess Aurora and Prince Désiré at King Florestan’s palace. Guests from far and wide arrive to congratulate the lovebirds. The guests include characters from other tales – fairies and princes. The bride couple is dancing. The fairy-tale ends up with the triumph of good over evil, just like the Lilac Fairy predicted.

Time: Baroque
Place: Europe

Prologue (The Christening)

King Florestan XXIV and his Queen have welcomed their first child, Princess Aurora, and declare a grand christening ceremony to honor her. Six fairies are invited to the ceremony to bestow gifts on the child. Each fairy brings a gift of a virtue or positive trait, such as beauty, courage, sweetness, musical talent, and mischief. The most powerful fairy, the Lilac Fairy, arrives with her entourage, but before she can bestow her gift, the evil fairy Carabosse arrives with her minions. Carabosse furiously asks the King and Queen why she had not received an invitation to the christening. The blame falls on Catalabutte, the Master of Ceremonies who was in charge of the guest list. Carabosse gleefully tears his wig off and beats him with her staff, before placing a curse upon the baby princess as revenge: Aurora will indeed grow up to be a beautiful, healthy, delightful young lady, but on her sixteenth birthday she will prick her finger on a Spindle and die. The King and Queen are horrified and beg Carabosse for mercy, but she shows none. However, the Lilac Fairy intervenes. Though she does not have enough power to completely undo the curse, she alters it, allowing the spindle to cause a peaceful 100-year sleep for the princess, rather than death. At the end of those 100 years, she will be woken by the kiss of a handsome prince. Relieved that Aurora's life will ultimately be spared, the court is set at ease.

Act I (The Spell)

It is the day of Princess Aurora's sixteenth birthday. Celebrations are underway, though the King is still unsettled by Carabosse's omen. The master of ceremonies discovers several peasant ladies frolicking about with knitting needles and alerts the King, who initially sentences the women to a harsh punishment. The Queen gently persuades him to spare the innocent citizens, and he agrees. An elaborate waltz is performed and Princess Aurora arrives. She is introduced to four suitors by her doting parents. Aurora and the suitors perform the famous Rose Adagio. Presently, a cloaked stranger appears and offers a gift to the princess: a spindle. Having never seen one before, Aurora curiously examines the strange object as her parents desperately try to intervene. As predicted, she pricks her finger. While initially appearing to recover quickly, she falls into a swoon and collapses. The cloaked stranger reveals herself to be Carabosse, who believes that her curse still stands and that the princess is dead. Once again, the Lilac Fairy quells the hubbub and reminds the King and Queen that Aurora is merely asleep. The princess is carried off to bed, and the Lilac Fairy casts a spell of slumber over the entire kingdom, which will only be broken when Aurora awakens. A thick layer of thorny plants grows over the palace, hiding it from view.

Act II (The Vision)

One hundred years later, Prince Désiré is attending a hunting party. Though his companions are lighthearted, the prince is unhappy and eventually asks to be left alone. On his own in the forest, he is met by the Lilac Fairy, who has chosen him to awaken Aurora. She shows him a vision of the beautiful princess, and the prince is immediately smitten. The Lilac Fairy explains the situation, and Désiré begs to be taken to the princess. The Lilac Fairy takes him to the hidden castle. Carabosse makes one last attempt to cement her vengeful curse, but the Lilac Fairy and the prince manage to defeat her together at last. Once inside the castle, Désiré awakens Aurora with a kiss. The rest of the court wakes as well, and the King and Queen heartily approve when the prince proposes marriage and the princess accepts.

Act III (The Wedding)

The royal wedding is underway. Guests include the Jewel Fairies: Diamond, Gold, Silver and Sapphire, and of course the Lilac Fairy. Fairytale characters are in attendance, including Puss in Boots and The White Cat, Princess Florine and the Bluebird, and others. Aurora and Désiré perform a grand Pas de Deux, and the entire ensemble dances. The prince and princess are married, with the Lilac Fairy blessing the union.

Structure

Titles of all of the numbers listed here come from Marius Petipa's original scenario, as well as the original libretto and programs of the first production of 1890. Major changes which were made to the score for Petipa's original production are mentioned, and help explain why the score is often heard in different versions in theatres today.

All libretti and programs of works performed on the stages of the Imperial Theatres were titled in French, which was the official language of the Emperor's Court, as well as the language in which balletic terminology is derived.

Prologue — Le baptême de la Princesse Aurore

Venue Info

Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre - Novosibirsk
36 Krasny Prospect

The Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre (the official title is the Novosibirsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre is one of the most important theatres in Novosibirsk and Siberia. It is located at the center of Novosibirsk at Lenin square.

The building was completed in February 1944, and the first performance was held on 12 May 1945. As of 2012, it is the largest theatre in Russia, larger than the Bolshoi Theatre (literally "Big theatre") in Moscow. After its renovation in 2005 with computerized stage equipment, at the time it became the most technically advanced in Russia. The total area of the building is 11,837 m2 (127,410 sq ft), the volume is 294,340 m3 (10,395,000 cu ft). The theatre is often called the "Siberian Coliseum" because of its size and beauty. The auditorium seats more than 1,790 spectators. Its upper gallery is decorated with copies of antique Greek statues.

Music directors

Current music director is Dmitri Jurowski. Previous directors were Teodor Currentzis (2004 to 2010) and Ainars Rubikis.

The building

The principal construction of the theatre building is the big dome, which is 60 metres (200 ft) wide and 35 metres (115 ft) high. The dome is a unique construction that supports itself without girders or columns. The ratio of its thickness (an average of 8 cm (3.1 in)) to its radius is less than that of a chicken's egg.

In front of the dome there is a large foyer, while behind it there is a 30-metre (98 ft) deep stage with bars rising up to 30 metres (98 ft) above.

The theater also served as the fifth pit stop in the fourteenth season of The Amazing Race.