The Sleeping Beauty

Once upon a time, there was...
...a choreographer who based his new ballet on one of the best-known fairytales of all time. 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.

Dutch National Ballet

In the festive month of December, the Dutch National Ballet revives this jewel in its crown. They use the 1981 version by Englishman Peter Wright, 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 famous fairytale

The Sleeping Beauty, based on Charles Perrault's La Belle au Bois Dormant, tells the story of Princess Aurora. The princess pricks her finger on a spindle on her sixteenth birthday, as foretold in a curse pronounced by the wicked fairy at her christening. However, the good fairy manages to avert the death of the princess. Instead, Aurora falls into a deep sleep for a hundred years to be awoken at last by a prince's kiss.