DANZ QUARTERLY No 7 April 2007

Reviews

The Sleeping Beauty - The Australian Ballet
Civic Theatre, Auckland, 27 October 2006

Reviewed by Francesca Horsley

The Sleeping Beauty is an iconic fairy tale; an essential ingredient in any girl’s fantasy land. The original story seeps back into Italian and other European folklore when farming families gathered round a communal fireplace, telling tales of ancient principalities whose royal intrigues saw them through the winter. The tension between good and evil is finely balanced - it is no pushover either way, each force has a will to win; escapism at its best. The original choreography was one of Petipa’s masterpieces – a baroque wonderland of lavish tutus and sets and crystal clear mime that directs the action.

The Australian Ballet Company’s new production by Stanton Welch reworks the classic tale; the set and costume design by the late Kristian Frederickson kept some of the lavishness, but the fairies were lycra lean.

In the pivotal opening Act I the action was urgent, but a little obscure. Huge parcels, delivered with great aplomb by children, eclipsed the bestowing fairy’s dance presence. The new born princess Aurora was disconcertingly invisible, engulfed by an outsized crib and the royal couple too were dwarfed by the magic of the occasion. This unbalancing of the traditional scale, while interesting, impeded a clear reading of the storyline.

The scene was further blurred by both the good and bad fairies’ entourages clad in flowing white – although the grotesque trolls and gothic frost-breathing creatures were appropriately sinister.

The Lilac fairy, whose role is to restore calm and order, denuded of her tutu and scantly clad in barely violet stretched lycra, was diminished in her pivotal role; Caraboose, the wicked fairy on the other hand was very visible.

Other parts were more successful; indolent court cats charmed, Prince Florimund, (Robert Curran) in Act II hunting in the icy forest was eerie and his eventual courtship and nuptial dance with Auroroa, ( Madeleine Eastoe) was magical; the bluebird solo (Remi Rórtmeyer) was sheer delight. Overall the strength of the production was the depth and strength of the dancing by all members of the company, and consistent high levels of artistry by all lead dancers         

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