Sleeping Beauty (RNZB 2011)

October 30, 2011 at 7:58 am | Posted in Ballet Review, Show Review | Leave a comment
Tags: Abigail Boyle, Adriana Harper, Ballet, Black Fairy, Carabosse, Catalabutte, Craig Horsman, Ivan Vsevolozhsky, Lady Florine, Lucy Balfour, Maree White, Medhi Angot, Prince Desire, Princess Aurora, Qi Huan, Rothbart, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Sergio Torrado, Shannon Dawson, Sir John Trimmer, Sleeping Beauty, Stella Abrera, Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky

I went to the second night of the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s new production of Sleeping Beauty.

This is a new production, and in his first full-length choreographic work, Craig Horsman has tweaked and shortened the Russian version a little bit. The traditional second and thirds Acts have been combined into one. It becomes clear why the Black Fairy – Carabosse – was not invited: the Chancellor – Catalabutte – deliberately ripped up the invitation. Another innovation was the use of a shadow show to portray the birth of Princess Aurora. And for good measure the Chancellor is a cat ! – as his love interest; this cleverly elevates the Puss in Boots and White Cat characters from the original Ivan Vsevolozhsky story.

The feline antics of Catalabutte (danced by Shannon Dawson) and Lady Florine (danced by Lucy Balfour) added some lighter touches to what is otherwise a courtly ballet.

Being a new production the costumes and set were wonderfully detailed. The mortals got richly detailed customs and the fairies light etherial outfits.

The ‘good’ fairies are pretty much as you would expect to find them: simple chiffon tutus in light colours. Even the Lilac Fairy has a simple arrangement. I thought that she should have counterpointed the Black Fairy in a more visual way.

I think the best costume and character was the Black Fairy – Carabosse – danced by Maree White. She did a fantastic job; the choreography, personalisation, and costume seem to borrow heavily from von Rothbart in Swan Lake. The Black Fairy is dressed in black, looking a little bit like Charlize Theron in Aeon Flux with a massive black cape; she is the only fairy to have a head piece, but no wings. She has her own retinue of hench-goblins to boot. She even turns into a dragon – curtesy of Weta Workshop – when she fights Prince Desire.

I wish the fight between the Prince and Carabosse was a bit longer, so that the drama and tension cab build. But it was a nice deviation from the standard ‘cutting through the vines’ when it came time for the Prince to ‘rescue’ the Princess.

I was also wish that the four princes, from whom Aurora was originally to select a husband, had solos of their own.

I was disappointed that the Stella Abrera and Sergio Torrado were not in the principal roles. Instead, the cast was ably lead by Abigail Boyle and Qi Huan. Qi Huan is most princely – with well controlled jumps, leaps and turns. Abigail Boyle handles her technically demanding role well. The evergreen Sir John Trimmer plays the King. The dancing of Adriana Harper and Medhi Angot as the Bluebirds was wonderful.

While the story is relatively simple, I found the beautiful produced programme very useful for filling in some of the ‘gaps’. I though the wedding could have more visual ‘handrails’. [It certainly pays to read up on the story.]

The cast got a resounding ovation at the final curtain.