Eden Court Theatre, 23-26 January 2008

Claire Robertson as Aurora and Erik Cavallari as The Prince in Pageʼs The Sleeping Beauty, sponsored by Bank of Scotland (photo - by Andrew Ross).

THE FRONT SCREEN upon which a giant image by Man Ray appears sets the scene for Ashley Page’s production of The Sleeping Beauty. This elegant and surreal image of a woman asleep seen from above, her head tilted back, eyes closed, hair streaming out behind her on a ground of rose petals seems perfectly apt as Tchaikovsky’s rapturous music begins. This is the third collaboration between Page and Designer Antony McDonald who have developed The Nutcracker and Cinderella for Scottish Ballet in the last four years.

The lavish costumes and sets cleverly pay homage to the history of the ballet and its performance. The literal reinterpretation od Princess Aurora’s 100 year slumber from her 16th birthday set in 1846 to 1946 ( the year that the Royal Opera house reopened at Covent Garden with Frederick Ashton’s production of The Sleeping Beauty) is beautifully realised in Russian-inspired Regency costumes and exquisite 1940’s Dior-like couture.

There is also an exploration of the fairytale through design and choreography, forces of good against evil, order against chaos, which have particular resonance in the post war modern period of Act III. This Sleeping Beauty isn’t just perfected steps and frothy tutus but reinterpretation in full knowledge of the traditional repertoire and the conventions of narrative storytelling through dance. Like Sondhiem’s musical Into the Woods, which has its origins in Grimm’s Fairytales, there is nothing childish about the exploration of human experience in the fairytale through music or, in this case, dance.

In the forest in Act II we meet Snow White, Cinderella, Belle from Beauty & the Beast and Red Riding Hood lost in the forest with the prince who will wake Aurora from her sleep. These characters reappear in Act III’s wedding reception set in a 1946 London Hotel, their costumes ingeniously retaining elements from the enchanted forest scene. The pas de deux danced by Red Riding Hood and her beau is volatile, full of passion and conflict that is the antithesis of “happily ever after”, her girlish cloak replaced by a draped back red evening gown.

This and Aurora’s awakening dance with her prince (danced by Sophie Martin and Adam Blyde in this performance) were two of the highlights of the production and diametrically opposed in terms of their vision of love. Ironically the later was pared down in terms of set, with the dawn light, just a hint of misty tree line and neutral colours in the costumes, allowing the audience to concentrate on human movement and Tchaikovsky’s emotive symphonic score.

Co-costume Designer Michelle May and Assistant Set Designer Anne Marie Woods, both of whom have worked with Designer Antony Macdonald previously, have used colour in this production to great effect. The characters of each fairy – Beauty, Grace, Angelic Temperament, Song and Wisdom – are represented by their exuberant choreography and beautiful costuming infused with the organic and tactile quality of feathers or petals. The variation of colour in this set of costumes alone is amazing, each fairy seemingly adorned in every natural hue of their designated colour.

It is not surprising that Antony Macdonald cites the 19th century English artist Richard Dadd’s luminous fairy paintings as an influence. Every costume reflects incredible attention to detail. Carabosse, the Lilac Fairy’s evil twin, and her two troll-like daughters Pina and Lucinda in vibrant deep green and earthy browns are both menacing and basely comic. There is a touch of Pan or Dionysus in Carabosse and her minions that makes them ambiguous and therefore more interesting as representations of wickedness.

The large floral patterned wallpaper on the hotel staircase, jet black set and red pillars accented with primary colour costuming in Act III exude high Deco and high production values. Colour has been injected into this production on many levels. There is a modern physicality in the dance moves that is very much at home with the 19th century score – human emotion or experience is the constant. Hearing the music performed live by the Scottish Ballet Orchestra conducted by Richard Honner is a joy.

Page is insistent on the importance of the original score in developing his vision of the ballet; “Part of my job in re-conceiving the ballet is to listen to the music with fresh ears and illuminate things that I think haven’t been illuminated before”. He has succeeded with choreography that challenges the dancers and extends the range of movement and interpretation we have come to expect from the classical tradition.

Sleeping Beauty is at Eden Court Theatre until Saturday (26 January).

© Georgina Coburn, 2008

Links

• Scottish Ballet
• Eden Court Theatre Eden Court Theatre