Soporific Stunner

Saturday night, I was at The National Ballet for a remount of the 1972 classic Sleeping Beauty. It was  the first "Canadian" ballet showcasing Rudolf Nureyev. So I was fully prepared for lavish sets and costumes, as well full-on traditional classical ballet.

But honestly, the story was a bit of a snooze-fest. To start off, you couldn't help but notice that Princess Aurora (Sonia Rodriguez), a very definition of the 1%, would be endowed with magical gifts from 6 fairies. Talk about gilding the lily (or perhaps checking your privilege). On the other hand, you do feel for her that her primary worth in life is as a marriage prospect at the tender age of 16. Which leads to the second observation. The extended ballroom scene from Act I was essentially The Bachelorette, Medieval Edition.

Prince Florimund (Piotr Stanczyk) didn't fare better story-wise in Act II. Yet another royal prince whose mopey-ness was a short-hand for virtue. Because in contrast,  his peers were often out gleefully killing some animal. Finally, even for a fairy tale, they were padding it out as everything had wrapped up by the second intermission. So for Act III, you had more dancing fairies, a blue bird, and a pair comic-relief cats.

The individual choreography was excellent including the classic Rose Adagio and the Blue Bird's high-flying solo. The group numbers did drag on, mostly because the storyline was so thin. The imperious Carabosse had a bigger impact than the goody Lilac Fairy. You couldn't help but hope that she'd win somehow in the end. You get a bit dazzled by the good looks, but really it's a bit of a dullard underneath.