Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Choreography: Marius Petipa and Sergei Bobrov

Writer: Charles Perrault’s La Belle au bois dormant, revised by Sergei Bobrov

Reviewer: Marina Spark

The Public Reviews Rating:

As the house lights came down last night for the opening of The Russian State Ballet of Siberia’s The Sleeping Beauty, Tchaikovsky’s regal overture heralded in the grand opening; the christening of Princess Aurora. The familiar tunes from Tchaikovsky’s score that are still much loved over 120 years after they were composed awoke the little girl in me, conjuring dreams of fairy tales and Prince Charming, or Prince Desire in this case. The varied, rich score delighted the audience, ranging between the delicacy and beauty used for Princess Aurora and the darkness reserved for the Evil Fairy Carabosse. Composer Alexander Yudasin created a grand sound with a relatively small orchestra, resulting in a highly enjoyable orchestral performance.

Visually this is a child friendly ballet; the costumes and set, designed by Dimitry Tcherbadzhi, being simple but bright. The costumes especially were very romantic in style, glittering and gleaming in true fairytale form.

On the whole I had a few problems with The Sleeping Beauty. I know the story behind the ballet well and at times I struggled to keep up with the plot line. There is no denying that the dancers were highly skilled in their art but they were not telling the story through their bodies, they were merely going through the steps. Marius Petipa and Sergei Bobrov’s choreography was demonstrated well but it was not truly interpreted and given an individual stamp by each dancer. This ballet company has an ambitious repertoire (5 full ballets in total) and I can’t help but feel that they may have overstretched themselves. What the audience sees from this is a lack of detail and polish from the whole company; at times I even queried whether the choreography was fully learnt.

The storytelling in The Sleeping Beauty ranged from the disconnected to the gratuitous, with the Evil Fairy Carabosse, performed by Anastasia Koreshnikova, verging on the caricature. Koreshnikova’s physical storytelling was good, but possibly more suited to a different show. The contradiction in storytelling made this ballet confusing, leaving me to wonder what it really wants to be. There was a strange mix between the classical interpretation and performance of ballet from characters such as Princess Aurora (Anna Aulle) and Prince Desire (Dimitry Sobolevsky) and the static but gesticulating characters who facilitated much of the plot progression. The King’s Chamberlain Cattalabutte (Roman Kirkorov), the King (Alexander Kuimov) and the Queen (Margarita Nosik) danced very little and instead paraded around gesturing to each other. This was a surprising choreography choice and only served to highlight a deficiency in the production.

Some dancers do light up the stage. A highlight for me was the partnership between Anastasia Kazantseva and Denis Pogorely, who played the White Cat and Puss in Boots. Their playful, feline connection was portrayed with detail and dedication, making it a joy to watch. Natalia Bobrova, who played The Lilac Fairy, showed a lightness of touch and grace that was intoxicating.

The Russian State Ballet of Siberia’s The Sleeping Beauty had a number of weaknesses that could have been overcome with a greater company focus on fewer shows. I expected a far higher level of polish from such a well respected ballet company and found myself disappointed. If you are a fan of Tchaikovsky you will love the music, as it is played beautifully by the orchestra, however, if you are a keen ballet fan you may find yourself frustrated by this production.

Runs until 12th February 2012 at The Mayflower, Southampton, then touring.

 

The Russian State Ballet of Siberia: The Sleeping Beauty – The Mayflower, Southampton, 5.0 out of 5 based on 2 ratings

Tags: Alexander Kuimov, Alexander Yudasin, Anastasia Kazantseva, Anastasia Koreshnikova, Anna Aulle, Ballet, Denis Pogorely, Dimitry Sobolevsky, Dimitry Tcherbadzhi, Margarita Nosik, Marius Petipa, Natalia Bobrova, Roman Kirkorov, Sergei Bobrov, Southampton, Tchaikovsky, The Mayflower, The Russian State Ballet of Siberia, The Sleeping Beauty