ABT 2015 - The Sleeping Beauty

You all know I'm a big fan of ABT.  I'm also a big fan of their artist-in-residence, Alexei Ratmansky.  I think he's so imaginative and interesting as a choreographer; I found his Firebird quite engaging and love his version of Nutcracker (it's not going to be at BAM anymore and my Christmas holiday season will not be the same).  Apparently, when he first came on board at ABT, he talked about wanting to do a new version of Sleeping Beauty that utilized the original choreographer's (Petipa) notations.  Ratmansky actually taught himself how to decipher that ancient dance notation so that he could replicate and reinterpret the original ballet.  I finally saw The Sleeping Beauty last Tuesday night and I LOVED IT.  Bravos to Ratmansky.

I'd seen ABT's previous version of Sleeping Beauty a couple of times, back in 2007 and 2011, and had a few problems with it.  Not the problems that people who actually know ballet had with it, but I thought the costumes and the staging felt off (and seemed rather cheap, to be rude about it), though the dancing looked good to me.  Now, with this new production, every aspect is sumptuous and first-rate.  The set and costumes are glorious, the wigs are pretty fantastic (except for one, which I'll mention later) and the staging is terrific.  The main difference I can see is that instead of contemporary bravura dancing we get more classical storytelling through dance.  There's a lot of pantomime, which is excellently done, and quick footwork instead of big turns and jumps.  It took me a few minutes to get in synch with the style of dancing, but once I did, I was hooked.

The prologue with the christening of the baby princess was lovely.  The King and Queen are marvelously robed with exquisite costumes.  But here is the one wig that made me nearly giggle.  The Queen's enormous bouffant beehive wig had a ornamental decoration on the front of it that, from the balcony, made the Queen look like the Bride of Frankenstein.  That wig was tremendously unfortunate.  But I soon put it out of my mind while watching the gorgeous dancing of Stella Abrera as the Lilac Fairy.  Her sister faeries were all also terrific, especially Zhong-Jing Fang as the Canary.  She was enchanting and really did seem to float around the stage like a bird.  Craig Salstein, as the evil fairy Carabosse, was excellent in his miming and forceful taking over of the stage.  He has a lot of music to fill and he fills it wonderfully.  My ABT MVP, Roman Zhurbin, was the King and was, as usual, wonderful.  His miming is always so crystal clear, as is his characterization.  You always know the person he is playing; no stereotypes, no shortcuts, just good dramatic acting.

photo credit: Gene Schiavone

Then, in Act One, we meet the young princess Aurora, danced charmingly by Gillian Murphy.  Coincidentally, Gillian is the dancer I saw as Aurora the first time I saw the ballet live.  Her Rose Adagio then, and now, was superlative.  So sure and steady en pointe, yet young and girlish with each of her suitors.  Again, the dancing was about telling the story of this young girl's hesitant step towards womanhood.  The moment when she pricked her finger and fell was quite dramatic - in this production, she actually gets up once and everyone thinks she's fine before she falls again.  I will say that the Garland Waltz seemed crowded to me, as if there were just too many dancers on stage.  From the balcony, it was cool to see so many dancers come out onto the stage, but then it seemed as if they were just too close together to really be able to dance.  Maybe that was just me.

In Act Two, it's 100 years later and we meet our prince, strongly danced by James Whiteside.  It took me a minute to get on board with his costume - with the wig and jacket, he looked like he was getting ready to go fight the Revolutionary War, but again, I went with it.  The Vision Scene was lovely, with Gillian all ethereal air and quick moves, ever elusive away from the prince.  But once he catches her, their pas de deux was lovely.  She has one moment where she's en pointe for at least ten or fifteen seconds (apparently she has some help, but I couldn't tell when I was watching it) and it's so dreamlike, it's perfect for the scene.

photo credit: Gene Schiavone (not the cast I saw)

Act Three is, of course, the wedding celebration, with dancing dancing dancing.  The beautiful Precious Stone Faeries were glorious, especially Cassandra Trenery as Diamond.  Gorgeous line and beautiful footwork.  When talking about gorgeous line and beautiful footwork, I have to mention the superlative Sarah Lane as Princess Florine.  She and her Bluebird, Zhiyao Zhang, were spectacular.  Just so sweet and sparkling; their pas de deux got one of the biggest hands of the night.  Next to the grand pas de deux, gorgeously done by Gillian and James.  Again, she has a balance that's breathtaking, where she goes into a deep backbend in front of her prince.  Amazing.

I really loved this new production and can't wait to see it again.  I loved the dancing, the music, the costumes - I especially loved the integration of child dancers from ABT's ballet school taking part.  They were all so good and fit right in with the rest of the company.  I think ABT has a real hit on their hands.  I look forward to seeing many dancers take on this new classical, yet contemporary take on a timeless ballet.  (Oh, and the pictures below look a little better, don't they?  My camera finally really died and a generous friend lent me his camera.  I think the color is way better.  I may become an ungenerous friend and not give it back...)