The Sleeping Beauty

The Australian Ballet’s sumptuously opulent 2015 production of The Sleeping Beauty finally arrives in Brisbane and if audience reaction is anything to go by it is a thumping success. David McAllister’s version, the first full-length ballet created by him since he became artistic director of the company in 2001, is reverential to Petipa’s 1890 Russian original with some judicious edits for time. Act lll’s divertissements have been reduced to the Bluebird pas de deux and solo sequences.

But it’s not McAllister’s choreography that thrills so much as Gabriela Tylesova’s sets and costumes which overwhelm the production. Has any designer ever been able to cram so much gilt and gold onto a stage before? It’s an excess of grandeur, and more than over the top, set in baroque ballrooms and gardens as picturesque as Louis X1V’s Versailles, with servants in powdered wigs and fairies in crystal adorned tutus. Her exuberant use of colour dazzles the eye at every turn from the opening prologue with its rich burgundy hues to the spectacular and awe-gasping glittering triple chandelier finale which brings rapturous applause.

Amber Scott was a sweet, playful and assured Aurora, and handled the difficult “Rose Adagio” with skill. Partnering her as her book-worm lover Desire was the athletic and strong Ty King-Wall, the epitome of a romantic fairy-tale Prince. Their pas de duex’s were technically proficient but lacked that elusive passion. Guest artist Gillian Revie added some much needed malevolence as the spiteful Carabosse, Valerie Tereshchenko’s Lilac Fairy was all sweetness and light, whilst Brett Chynoweth’s Bluebird impressed with his leaps and pirouettes.

It’s no secret that 70% of the production’s budget came from benefactors and every cent of their investment is up there on stage. Colour and movement have never been more exquisite. Tchaikovsky’s beloved score, which even had some of the audience humming along in the “Garland Waltz” sequence, is beautifully realised by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra under Nicolette Fraillon’s baton. The frequent harp glissando’s not only added texture but an ethereal beauty.

The Sleeping Beauty will please countless classical ballet fans. It’s a soft-centered chocolate box of fairytale goodies - sweet to the eye but with little to nourish the heart.

Peter Pinne   

Images: Amber Scott and Ty King-Wall, & Amber Scott & Dancers of The Australia Ballet. Photographer: Kate Longley.