Disclaimer: The Fandads were invited to A&A Ballet’s Presentation of Sleeping Beauty. All thoughts, opinions, and wonderment are our own.
Attending a ballet performance is not something that we do that often in our family. When my daughter was younger she took ballet classes and we attended two recitals in her short ballet career. Even though she still continues taking dance classes that are not ballet, she still likes watching ballet performances. When we were invited to see the new A&A Ballet presentation of Sleeping Beauty, my daughter was excited to go.
Our trip to the ballet was a little hectic as we were caught in traffic and ended up getting to the theater a few minutes after the start time. Luckily, the ballet had not started and we were able to take our seats and not miss the show.
The show was incredible. The dancers moved with grace across the stage and it was interesting seeing Sleeping Beauty on the stage like this. The show was split up into 4 acts and each act had a final dance that showcased the talent that was on stage. My daughter and I really enjoyed seeing the fairies dance and the dance between the Lilac Fairy and Carabosse in the first act was probably the one we liked the most.
The final act had a lot of great dances and some surprise guest. Dancing among the Jewel Fairies were Red Riding Hood, Grey Wolf, Puss in Boots, White Cat, and Princes Florina. It was a strange hodgepodge of characters that we normally do not associate with Sleeping Beauty, but it was pretty cool to see them doing their dances at the wedding.
The only caveat I had about the show was that there was a strobe effect when Carabosse came on the screen. Having a child with epilepsy, this might have created a problem, but the effect was not that strong that I do not think it would have affected him. While it would not have been a problem for my son, it could have been a problem for someone who is a little more sensitive to the lighting issues. Hopefully, if they have another show with a similar effect there will be some type of warning in their program.
A&A BALLET under the artistic direction of Anna Reznik and Alexei Kremnev, presents “Sleeping Beauty”. The production stars A&A BALLET Youth Company Member and 2019 Youth America Grand Prix honoree Trinity Santoro as Princess Aurora during the matinee staging, A&A BALLET Youth Company Member and recipient of American Ballet Theater’s National Scholarship Grace Curry as Princess Aurora at the evening performance and BalletMet company member Michael Sayreasthe Prince at both performances.
Cursed by a wicked fairy, the newborn Princess Aurora is fated to die from a prick to her finger on her sixteenth birthday. A good fairy intervenes to alter the wicked fairy’s tragic spell: instead of dying, Princess Aurora and her entire kingdom will fall into a deep sleep. Only true love’s kiss will unleash the power to awaken her and the rest of her kingdom.
The production is choreographed by Kremnevand Reznik and features Tchaikovsky’s beloved score. The sets feature projections of original illustrations by renowned 19thcentury book illustrator Gustave Doré. Costumes are designed by Lisa Weller, Carolyn FayandLaura Skarichand lighting is by Cat Wilson.
“Sleeping Beauty” is Kremnev’s ninth full-length ballet and his work has been presented at the world-renowned Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Lincoln Center in New York, and the Opernhaus Zurich in Switzerland, among other prestigious venues across the globe. The Huffington Post describes his choreography as “encompassing the best and brilliance of what movement can be while breaking boundaries of what we know.”
