North Central College presents the Moscow Festival Ballet performing "The Sleeping Beauty" at 8 p.m. Friday, April 29, in the College's Pfeiffer Hall, 310 E. Benton Ave. "The Sleeping Beauty" is a well-known fairy tale about a baby princess, condemned at her christening by an evil fairy to prick her finger and die on her 16th birthday. She is saved by the gift of the good Lilac Fairy, who declares the princess will only sleep until awakened by the kiss of a prince. The fairy tale—replete with a king and queen, fairies both good and evil, a beautiful princess and dream prince, magical stage effects, and courtly splendor—lends itself perfectly to a full evening ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa.
"The Sleeping Beauty" is a supreme demonstration of the challenge of Petipa's style—steel point work, sharply accented spinning turns, soaring leaps, high extensions, brilliant battery (beats in the air), daring lifts—and, it gives a fairy tale plot lavish stage treatment. However, its production actually checked a growing tendency toward shapeless extravaganza in 19th century ballet, adhering closely to the principle of choreographic symphonism; like the composition of a symphony, it had a certain formal structure. "The Sleeping Beauty" was choreographed in strict association with Russian composer Tchaikovsky's music. There are themes developed and resumed throughout the ballet, and each act is a unity unto itself.
North Central College presents the Moscow Festival Ballet performing "The Sleeping Beauty" at 8 p.m. Friday, April 29, in the College's Pfeiffer Hall, 310 E. Benton Ave. "The Sleeping Beauty" is a well-known fairy tale about a baby princess, condemned at her christening by an evil fairy to prick her finger and die on her 16th birthday. She is saved by the gift of the good Lilac Fairy, who declares the princess will only sleep until awakened by the kiss of a prince. The fairy tale—replete with a king and queen, fairies both good and evil, a beautiful princess and dream prince, magical stage effects, and courtly splendor—lends itself perfectly to a full evening ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa.
"The Sleeping Beauty" is a supreme demonstration of the challenge of Petipa's style—steel point work, sharply accented spinning turns, soaring leaps, high extensions, brilliant battery (beats in the air), daring lifts—and, it gives a fairy tale plot lavish stage treatment. However, its production actually checked a growing tendency toward shapeless extravaganza in 19th century ballet, adhering closely to the principle of choreographic symphonism; like the composition of a symphony, it had a certain formal structure. "The Sleeping Beauty" was choreographed in strict association with Russian composer Tchaikovsky's music. There are themes developed and resumed throughout the ballet, and each act is a unity unto itself.