"Sleeping Beauty" reconstruction 1/17 The Mariinsky Ballet; Obraztsova/Korsakov

[BeautytifulTina]

may I ask when this is filmed? thx :)

[Royalbrettania]

this is nothing short of spectacular !!!!!  it is amazing the mime especially ...its so telling what a difference "small"characters like Catabulutte and even the queen make when performed with such aplomb !

[thaliyall]

Good God! I had NO idea that this was a ballet, let alone the fact that Disney had copied the music for the cartoon. No wonder that was my favorite Disney movie/princess as a little girl. Thank you so much for posting! Absolutely beautiful.

[mozartman2000]

where can I buy a DVD of this?

[osabee]

not sure my previous comment went through - bad internet, so I apologize if it appears multiple times.

Thanks so much for posting this! I just have one question: do you know what the gift is that the fairies are presented with? Is it the case like in the Perrault story or is it something else? I can't quite see from the video.

[rudik1988]

Thank you for sharing this wonderful ballet in his entirety!

I love the reconstruction of Vikharev ... The costumes, the decorations are spectacular ... seems to be a really old fairy tale ... I prefer that version, rather than the best know by Sergeyev!!

At this point I wanted to ask, if you know some books that speaks specifically of Petipa's Sleeping Beauty, and if you have the reconstruction of Sleeping Beauty with Vishneva of some year ago ...

[jengirl2]

thank you for posting this in its entirety and glory...what a beautiful production!!! I just love the sets and costumes. The dancing is wonderful too...tells the story and draws you in as any fairytale should. Your descriptions are really great also...I love learning the history behind productions, companies and daners. thank you again.

[jengirl2]

Thank you for posting this lavish production. Sleeping Beauty is one of my favorite ballets and I love to see it produced by different companies with different ideas. This is wonderful to watch.

[vaganovaballerina]

Thank you for this video and the detailed commentary as well. I agree with your position on ballet becoming more of a circus. I think the Russian tradition still preserves ballet as an art form much more than the U.S. does, though. I feel that we need today's equivalent of Petipa or Tchaikovsky, if such greats could ever happen again, but I don't know if our culture is such that we could produce genius like that anymore.

[mrlopez2681]

Modern day culture may prevent us from creating such genius, but we also need the environment (& LAVISH funds) Petipa & his contemporaries had - he staged a behemoth grand ballet EVERY YEAR from 1862 until 1903, he also staged countless revivals & small-scale works. By the time 1890 rolled around, he had honed his craft IN SPADES. People don't put on ballets like this anymore (save perhaps the obvious few), nor is there the environment that retains a Maître de ballet for so long anymore.

[vaganovaballerina]

I agree with you that the environment is lacking. Ballet doesn't have the same popularity with the public or receive the same amount of respect that it used to. I believe this is partially because in many places proper technique is no longer taught, nor are dancers taught how to give their soul and express themselves in dancing. It's an interesting point you make about funding. The funds are technically there: think of how much we spend on the movie industry! But they're not spent on ballet.

[fawbs80]

i enjoyed this enourmously as i have a cold and needed cheering up!

I'm used to the 2006 Royal Ballet production had not realised so much of the choreography was original

[suremate]

wow a complete sleeping beauty featuring the lovely obraztsova, thank you so much.

[CubicalGirl]

Has anyone ever noticed from pictures of back then that dancers back in the day had real fit bodys. Many of the ones of today seem too much like skin and bones, not all but many do seem to skinny.

[cooperneely]

you can thank George Balanchine and the Ballet Russe's for that....

[fanpiresara]

@CubicalGirl trueee!

[schneecindy]

I wish, they would reconstruct old opera productions too. I hate these modern sets and costumes!!!!!

[Lucylives08]

thank you mrlopez2681 for all the information which i whole-heartedly agree with! And thank you of course for all of the fabulous videos!

[palubob]

Let's not forget that ABT has no "home"; it is truly a touring company. Its only truly first-class venue is the Met, where it has a fine two-month spring season after the Metropolitan Opera has finished its season. The use of lavish stage scenery is hardly feasible in these circumstances.

[EricMontreal22]

From watchign this and other clips I've seen it seems to me that where the K Sergeyeve Kirov production nmost differs from the original is in the Prologue--so much of it (the formations, etc) are completely different, whereas in other acts you recognize much of the same basic choreograpbhy

[mrlopez2681]

I recall watching that drab Sergeyev production for the first time and thinking how awful the choregraphy for the prologue was.

[EricMontreal22]

I don't mind the production--it's still probably my fave major Sleeping Beauty production outside of the reconstruction partly for nostalgic reasos, but I can't help agreeing. Interestingly whenGrigorovich claimed he was returning closer to the Petipa for his 70s production still done at the Bolshoi, he basically kept the same Prologue it seems to me (one obvious difference is those lacked much for the cavaliers to do). The current Royal Ballet production is much closer

[watcher6262]

I have always found the K. Sergeyev Beauty very beautiful, especially the prologue. I also like what he did with the first act. I don't really care to see Bournonville turns for the ladies on demi-pointe even though that was how they were executed in Bournonville's time. Art is for the people and the advances in technique should be utilized otherwise the theater becomes simply a museum and art dies.

[mrlopez2681]

Where do you see turns on demi-pointe? I must've missed it! :) Today's Bournonville style is essentially the french manner of the 19th cent. in an unfiltered form. Advances in technique dont necessarily mean that the art has improved. On the contrary, I think the opposite has occured - Ballet has evolved, in many ways, into sport mathematics. Please dont take my comment negatively - I would LOVE to have an in depth discussion about it with someone knowledgable, as you seem to be! :)

[watcher6262]

What I meant is that if we performed Bournonville as they did in the past the turns out not be on pointe for the women. .

[watcher6262]

What I was referring to is in the Petipa rose adagio when Aurora is lifted in a shoulder sit by the main cavalier where in the Sergeyev version she is liften in a modified angel with one hand of the four cavaliers. The music is so grandiose that I find the newer version much more expressive. Trust me, I am NOT saying that the current roster at the Maryinsky is better and more interesting

[watcher6262]

Frankly, I find they have forgotten their heritage. Their arms are far too high in second position and they have lost their "imperialist" slant. Mr. Lopez, in the event that you are in contact with Keotina or if you know yourself, what has happened to Yulia Bolshakova? Is she another victim of the curse of the Maryinsky dancer?

[EricMontreal22]

As always, thanks SOO much for posting this.

[cubanmiamiboy]

I can't believe Ketinoa was forced to walk out. Wow..I hate more and more the "Powers that Be"-(AKA TBT)

[mariinskyfan]

Thank you so much for posting this performance!