Choreography: Marcus Petipa & Peter Wright

Reviewer: Iris Beaumont

The Public Reviews Rating:

Sleeping Beauty the well known and loved childrens fairy tale comes to life on the stage of The Lowry theatre thanks to The Birmingham Royal Ballet and what a tremendous performance it was. Having only seen amateur productions of Sleeping Beauty before, I have to say I felt highly privileged to be asked to review this production and I was not disappointed.

The story of a King and Queen whose first child Aurora is being christened is where Sleeping Beauty starts. All the fairies in the Kingdom have been invited to this joyous occasion to be Godmothers to the Princess, unfortunately the Fairy Carabosse has been forgotten and to say she is not impressed is an understatement, she arrives on stage greatly insulted and vows that Aurora shall on the occasion of her 21st Birthday prick her finger on a spindle and die, luckily The Lilac Fairy still has her gift to bestow and so she saves the day by promising that Aurora will only sleep for a hundred years and not die.

The curtains open to reveal the set of the Palace Ballroom highly decorated with huge swags and tails draping from the ceiling to the great urns on very large plinths, giving the stage the feeling of great splendour and panache. It continues this way throughout the whole show and Philip Prowse the designer has given thought to all aspects of the grandeur and opulence one would expect of a fairy tale palace.

The Costumes were elegant and intricately designed showing of the glamour and affluence associated with Kings and Queens and for this wardrobe lead by Lili Sobieralska deserve a special mention.

Every dancer gave an outstanding performance, bringing the energetic and inspiring choreography by Marcus Petipa & Peter Wright to life in what can only be described as enchanting and magical, in an evening of inspiring and poetic dance.

Whenever I thought of Ballet before I always thought of women in tutu’s and men in tights dancing around the stage with no real purpose, after last night I will never underestimate anything again. A fantastic night out, one to charm even the badly informed like myself.

Runs until 3rd April

Sleeping Beauty - Lowry Theatre, Salford, 4.0 out of 5 based on 3 ratings

Tags: Ballet, Birmingham National Ballet, Dance, Lowry, Salford, Sleeping Beauty