On
Friday 21st March I went to see ‘Sleeping Beauty’ at The Royal Opera
House. A friend from the Opera I am in had a spare ticket and I jumped at the
chance to see this ballet. I have only seen one other ballet live before and
that was ‘The Nutcracker’ many years ago. I’ve watched many ballets on t.v, but
of course live is always much more magical we had wonderful seats and the house
was completely sold out. The ballet was beautiful and for a few hours I was
completely transported into a fairy tale world filled with sparkling tutus and
music so rich and sweet it felt I’d known it by heart all along. During the intervals we talked
excitedly about the joys of theatre and our favourite parts, my favourite dance was when
Princess Aurora on her 16th Birthday pricked her finger on the
spindle. This dance shows Aurora becoming more and more sleepy, whilst trying
to stay upright and bright but finally failing and collapsing to the floor.
When the lilac fairy cast a spell over the kingdom and one by one the people on
stage fell asleep, this was very handsomely done. In slow motion the characters
yawned and drooped to the floor. The set was very fairy tale inspired such as
the illustrations of Kay Nielsen or Arthur Rackham and when
lights were shone through the curtains of ivy, magical patterns appeared on the
stage floor. The woods in which the prince wandered were filled with a thick
fog that gave an impression of a fresh, crisp morning and the boat scene with
the prince and the lilac fairy was wistfully pretty. Ballet dancers are fascinating, I’ve always
known this but Friday just reminded me what the human body is incredibly
capable of.
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