About
Presented by Durham University Ballet Company.
Journey to a magical, enchanted world of princesses, fairy godmothers and wicked spells in this glorious adaptation of Marius Petipa’s classical ballet to a live rendition of Tchiakovsky’s beautiful score.
Durham University Ballet Company (DUBC) presents their annual summer production and final performance of the year: The Sleeping Beauty.
Queen Floresta XXIV has invited six dazzling fairies to the christening of her daughter, the Princess Aurora. Before the final gift is bestowed, the celebrations are interrupted by Carabosse, the Wicked Fairy, who is enraged for her lack of invitation. Carabosse curses Princess Aurora, saying that on her sixteenth birthday, the Princess will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die. However, the Lilac Fairy, who was not able to offer her gift, alters the curse and promises that Aurora will not die, but will fall into a deep sleep to be awakened by true love’s kiss.
Time passes to Princess Aurora’s sixteenth birthday. A mysterious woman joins the festivities and offers Aurora a spindle. She pricks her fingers and falls into a deep sleep. The Lilac Fairy casts a sleeping spell over everyone at the party and charms a protective forest to grow over the palace.
One hundred years later, Prince Désiré is at a hunting party, but he is upset because he cannot find his true love. The Lilac Fairy appears and shows him a vision of Princess Aurora. Stunned by her beauty, Prince Désiré implores the Lilac Fairy to take him to Aurora. He defeats Carabosse and wakes the sleeping Princess with a kiss, breaking the spell and leading to the blissfully happy wedding of Princess Aurora and Prince Desire.
Running order (incl. two intervals between acts):
Act I: The Christening
Act II: The Spell and the Vision
Act III: The Wedding
Running time: approx. 2 hours including intervals