Sleeping Beauty – The Russian National Ballet – Athens, GA

My 7 year old daughter and I saw Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty (ballet) yesterday (Sunday, February 26, 2006). It was part of the UGA’s 10th Anniversary concert series, held in the Fine Arts Center.

The ballet was lovely, enchanting, engaging. Quite a memory to be made. The dancers were wonderful, their performances near flawless or flawless, to my untrained but critical eye. The story is a familiar one to many, but differing from the Disney treatment. If you know the actuality of the fairy tale it’s easier to understand the ballet. If you haven’t ever read the Charles Perrault fairy tale you should. It’s available online on many sites [originally written in French, translations abundant.]

This is the beginning of a possible cultural study of Tchaikovsky, ballet, etc.

The Tchaikovsky score was written for the ballet and based on the fairy tale by Charles Perrault. Marius Peptipa the ballet choreographer. The two worked together. Apparently Tchaikovky worked off of the Brother’s Grimm version of Perrault’s fairy tale, I’ve read several things saying the above in part or whole. It’s precise to state though, that this ballet is where Classical Ballet found it’s birth.

The Russian National Ballet’s Artisitic Director is Sergei Radchenko, former principal dancer for the Bolshoi Ballet.

The ballet itself would be superb to see with live orchestra, but I intend to insult with this statement: Live music would be wonderful, but the ballet itself not as good. The Russian National Ballet company is the premiere group to perform The Sleeping Beauty … therefore it would be something less of an experience to see an American company perform, though I’ll admit it would be nice nevertheless. FWIW.

The sets were elaborately painted curtain panels, such layering of gossamer panels, the lights glowing the differing hues and brightnesses to highlight the story appropriately, it was magical. The “court” wore grand costuming, the different dancers of Fairy and Princess and Prince wore less grand, more simplistic costume, most obvious to show their atheletic beauty in the dance.

My delight came in the Wedding portion, to hear the music of Tchaikovsky and see the dance of the Pussycat and his partners. Ah, that music now makes sense in full, and Disney uses it so inappropriately! In all I found that I know Tchaikovsky’s score, though I do not own a copy of it yet, and the reason I really like the Disney version of Sleeping Beauty is because they use Tchaikovsky’s music score, but I had abhorbed their degrading of the Good Fairies and the upgrading of the Bad Fairy, and the too silly things they input. I have to say it’s the lightest “wrong” treatment they’ve given anything though, so I still like it overall. I’m in the corner with the idea of “Why do they have to make it so silly in the first place, any of their works, there is a way they could have gone with any of their stories, humourous yet graceful and faithful to a tale for all ages.” Anyhow, the ballet is a much fuller story than the Disney film. The Disney film takes the story and cuts it in half and makes a fold here and there, taking the Hundred Year Sleep away. Prince Philip is Prince Charming and is a contemporary of Princess Aurora and they met in the forest before either knew she was a Princess. Nice story, but not the same as the fairy tale, and it’s a cheapened form, to me. I do like that he battles “the witch” and triumphs as he does, but it’s just giving the bad fairy more power than the fairy tale had given her, the ballet most certainly doesn’t give her such power. She is bad and is just bad. The Thorns grow up as a protective hedge over the sleeping court and princess. The Lilac Fairy of the ballet is the one who gives the gift of sleep of a hundred years instead of death at the prick of her finger on spindle. She is an important figure in the ballet (absolutely beautiful in the production we just saw!) and the “three little good fairies” in Disney is just what I said earlier, a downgrading, a silly factor put into the story that’s oh so charming in it’s own way, but I dislike the silly vs. evil that is there. It’s inventive, I do suppose a thing of the era it came out of.