The Sleeping Beauty

May 11–19, 2018 Program Background

Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Choreography: Marius Petipa with additional choreography by Sir Frederick Ashton Production: Ninette de Valois (After Nicolai Sergeyev’s 1939 production) Lighting Design: John Cuff Set and Costume Design: David Walker Conducted by Ming Luke

World Premiere: Jan 15, 1890, Imperial Ballet, Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia Boston Ballet Premiere (de Valois production): May 5, 2005, Boston, Massachusetts

Synopsis Prologue: The Christening King Florestan and his Queen have invited the fairies to the christening of the infant Princess Aurora. Unfortunately, the Fairy Carabosse has been forgotten, for she has not been seen for a long time. Nevertheless she arrives, vastly insulted, as the other fairies are bestowing their magic gifts. She gives a spindle and announces that one day Aurora shall prick her finger with it and die. Luckily, the Lilac Fairy still has her own gift to bestow, and she confounds Carabosse by promising that Aurora shall not die but will instead fall into a deep sleep, from which she will be awakened after a hundred years by a Prince’s kiss.

Act I: The Spell It is Princess Aurora’s sixteenth birthday, and four Princes have come to court her. During the festivities a strange woman approaches with something she has never seen before—a spindle. In her fascination, Aurora picks it up and pricks her finger, and the suitors rush to her aid. The old woman throws back her cloak, revealing she is Carabosse, and vanishes. The Lilac Fairy appears to fulfill her promise to protect the princess. She casts a spell of sleep over the castle and commands a forest to grow and conceal the palace.

Act II: The Vision One hundred years later, the young Prince Desire is hunting in this forest with his court. When a stag is sighted, the Prince’s companions join the chase, but Desire remains behind, dreaming of an ideal love. The Lilac Fairy appears and reveals a vision of Aurora; she next summons the vision to dance with Desire. He implores the Lilac Fairy to lead him to where Aurora sleeps, and the Lilac Fairy takes him on a journey to the overgrown and wooded palace where Aurora lies. They encounter Carabosse outside the palace gates and the Lilac Fairy banishes her from the kingdom. Desire finds the beautiful sleeping princess and wakes her with a kiss. The magic spell is broken.

Act III: The Wedding Many fairy-tale characters celebrate the wedding of the Prince and Aurora. The Lilac Fairy appears and blesses the marriage.

BIOS: Marius Petipa and Sir Frederick Ashton

Choreographers

Marius Petipa (1818- -- 1910)

Marius Petipa was born in Marseilles, France in 1818. He began his dance training at the age of seven with his father, French dancer and teacher Jean Petipa. He completed his education in Bordeaux and became premiere danseur at the theater in Nantes, and later a principal dancer in Bordeaux.

In 1847, Petipa left for Russia. He had signed a one-year contract with the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatre, but remained there for the rest of his life. He became an instructor in the Imperial School, while continuing to dance and restage ballets from the French repertoire. He became Premier Ballet Master of the Imperial Theatre in 1869.

As Premier Ballet Master, Petipa produced more than sixty full-length ballets, innumerable shorter works, and is considered to have laid the foundation for the entire school of Russian ballet. Petipa retired from the Imperial Theatre in 1903 and died in St. Petersburg in 1910. He is considered one of the greatest choreographers of all time.

Sir Frederick Ashton (1904- -- 1988)

Sir Frederick Ashton was born to British parents in Ecuador and raised in Lima, Peru. Ashton began studying dance in London under Léonide Massine, and went on to become a pupil of Marie Rambert, who encouraged his first choreographic efforts, The Tragedy of Fashion (1926) and Capriol Suite (1930).

Ashton joined the Vic-Wells (later the Sadler’s Wells and then the Royal) Ballet in 1933 and distinguished himself as a mime and character dancer in such roles as Carabosse in The Sleeping Beauty and the gigolo in Façade, and as the versatile choreographer of ballets that include Cinderella, Sylvia, Daphnis and Chloë, and the film Tales of Hoffmann (1951). He was the Royal Ballet’s principal choreographer from 1933 to 1970, during which time he also served as its associate director (1952- -- 1963) and its director (1963- -- 1970). In 1970, he retired from his administrative position in order to devote his time exclusively to choreography. Ashton was knighted in 1962.

BIO: Ming Luke

Guest Conductor

Hailed by Carla Escoda of The Huffington Post for the ‘‘energy, creativity and charisma not seen since Leonard Bernstein,’’ American conductor Ming Luke is rapidly establishing himself as an exciting and versatile conductor. Equally at home in the symphonic, opera and ballet repertoire, Luke has worked with ensembles worldwide. In the past few seasons, he has conducted Bolshoi Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Birmingham Royal, Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra, New York City Ballet Orchestra, l’Orchestra Prométhée, Nashville Symphony, Opera San José, and many others.

Luke’s work in ballet is extensive; he is the principal guest conductor for the San Francisco Ballet, conducting all major repertoire and embarking on all international and national tours. Longtime San Francisco Chronicle reviewer Allan Ulrich said, ‘‘Ming Luke delivered the best live theater performance I’ve ever heard of [Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet].’’

He has collaborated with numerous choreographers including Christopher Wheeldon, Alexei Ratmansky, Mark Morris, Val Caniparoli, Liam Scarlett, Helgi Tomasson, and others. Prima ballerina Natalia Makarova praised him for his ‘‘pure musicality.’’ He made his English debut at Sadler’s Wells, and conducted and joined San Francisco Ballet as part of its four-week residency with Les Etés de la Danse at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

Recent and upcoming highlights include collaborations with San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Ballet's New Works Festival, a return to the Kennedy Center, and tours to London and the Baltics.

The Sleeping Beauty

Press Quotes

“Two American productions of this classic are surely now the world’s best, though unalike. Boston Ballet’s, first produced by Ninette de Valois for the Royal Ballet in 1977 with four dances by Frederick Ashton, represents a “Sleeping Beauty” tradition that evolved over many decades.” (Alastair Macaulay, The New York Times, June 23, 2017)

“Today we can love [Tchaikovsky’s] symphonies, concertos and operas while still admiring ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ as the greatest of all ballet scores, the most fragrantly detailed and powerfully planned. Though there’s more going on in its music than in its choreography, Petipa’s stage action remains the ideal framework to help you feel what the music says.” (Alastair Macaulay, The New York Times, June 23, 2017)

“David Walker’s French Baroque sets and costumes look as sumptuous as ever; Marius Petipa’s choreography, with some additions by Frederick Ashton, needs no updating.” (Jeffrey Gantz, The Boston Globe, April 30, 2017)

"a visually grand production with sumptuous sets and costumes" (Jody Feinberg, The Patriot Ledger, April 24, 2017)

"this revival is not to be missed" (Iris Fanger, The Patriot Ledger, April 30, 2017)

“there are signs of bloom at all levels of the company” (Alastair Macaulay, The New York Times, April 26, 2009)

"once again enchanting audiences with its classic story, familiar music and sensational dancing" (Angelica Potter, On Stage, May 1, 2017)