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Let the celebrations begin - in style
SLEEPING BEAUTY: Nao Sakuma as Princess Aurora and Chi Cao as Prince Florimund - and below. Photos - Bill Cooper Sleeping Beauty Birmingham Royal Ballet Birmingham Hippodrome ***** BIRMINGHAM Royal Ballet opened its 20th Anniversary celebrations last night and and anyone watching was left in no doubt that this was as much a celebration for the city and the Hippodrome as the company with its stunning performance of Sleeping Beauty.
When the Saddler's Wells Royal Ballet loaded its pointe shoes and
tutus in the back of the van and set off up the M1 to become the
Birmingham Royal Ballet it was a journey into the unknown for all
parties.
Two decades on and it is safe to to say the move has been a
spectacular success for everyone concerned and Tchaikovsky's ballet was
a fitting way to start the celebrations.
As soon as the curtains opened the tone was set for an evening of
right royal celebrations. The sets, designed by Philip Prowse, were all
magnificent opulence, making the likes of Versailles look positively
dowdy, while into the fabulous setting came a cast in rich, sumptuous,
costumes all to the familiar music from the excellent Royal Ballet
Sinfonia under Paul Murphy.
The cast. from the fussy Catalabutte, David Morse, to the
coquettish White Cat, Sonia Aguilar, all played their parts with style
but this ballet depends largely upon two couples as to whether it is
truly memorable or not and in Nao Sakuma as Princess Auroa and Chi Cao
as Prince Florimund, and Joseph Caley as The Bluebird with Momoko Hirata
as the Enchanted Princess, memorable success was in safe hands . . . or
in this case feet.
Joseph Caley, in particular, showed, in footballing terms, what a
good engine he has got with some physically demanding solo dances that
would require a cardiac arrest unit standing by if they were attempted
by mere mortals.
Chi Cao has elegance and skill to spare while the two Japanese
dancers Noa Sakuma and Momoko Hirata are a thing of beauty to behold.
Their balance and speed of foot is remarkable.
The ballet, incidentally, celebrated its 120th anniversary earlier
this year and Sir Peter Wright's production is based firmly on the
original choreography by Marius Petipa, the ballet master of the
Imperial Ballet, from that opening night in St Petersburg.
The story is simple. King Florestan XXIV is holding a big
Christening ceremony for his new daughter Aurora and invites six fairies
- luckily including the Lilac fairy, Andrea Tredinnick, who has a
better class of spells than the rest.
Unfortunately the old king doesn't invite Carabosse, the local
wicked fairy which, in hindsight, is a bit of a blunder and Marion Tait
as the evil one is not going to let him forget it hamming it up
beautifully with her entourage of six, black-garbed halloweenies. PASSING PRINCE
She casts a spell that Aurora will prick her finger and die and
you just know that is what is going to happen otherwise it is going to
be a pretty short ballet. So when the princess does the deadly deed the
Lilac Fairy changes the spell so that instead of dying she, and everyone
else in the palace, will sleep for 100 years with the princess then to
be awakened by the kiss of a passing prince.
Right on cue up pops the puckered-up prince ready to wake everyone
up for a big party and almost three hours later we all go home.
It is a classic tale but in the hands of BRB it is given the
freshness and sparkle that the company's productions have time and again
created to enhance the name of the city and to brighten the life of
Birmingham. A fabulous celebration and, twenty years on, thank you for
coming.
The production runs until 06-03-10 and then again from 11-03-10 to
13-03-10 with the BRB's 20 Years Celebration concert on 09-03-10 and
10-03-10.
Roger Clarke Second opinion, Doctor?
*****
THIS is the 20th anniversary of the BRB's move to Birmingham, and
Sir Peter Wright's masterpiece of a production is proving a wonderful
way to get the celebrations started.
The former Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet tell the classic story of
The Sleeping Beauty with all the style, invention and imagination we
have come to almost take for granted, and at times the visual impact is
breathtaking.
Right from the opening scenes the audience realise they and
witnessing something special because the exquisitely designed costumes
are stunning, colours blending perfectly with the awesome scenery as the
story begins to unfold in the castle of King Florestan and his Queen who
are celebrating the Christening of Princess Aurora. And of course the dancing, choreographed by Marius Petipa to the music of Tchaikovsky. A sheer delight, with Nao Sakuma a magnificent Princess and Chi Cao proving the perfect partner in the role of Prince Florimund whose kiss awakens Aurora from a hundred year sleep following a curse from the evil Fairy Carabosse. Marion Tait creates a genuine atmosphere of evil as Carabosse, backed by her nasty black-clad henchmen with their chalk white faces, resembling a poisonous posse from the Pirates of the Caribbean.
A fine performance, too, from Andrea Tredinnick, the good
Lilac Fairy who tempers Carabosse's sentence of death curse to one of a
century of sleep after Aurora pricks her finger on a spindle. Paul Marston
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