Debuts in The Sleeping Beauty

Scene from the ballet The Sleeping Beauty

The idea behind The Sleeping Beauty belongs to Ivan Alexandrovich Vsevolozhsky, Director of the Imperial Theatres. It was he who wished to establish a Court ballet company like that at the Court of Louis XIV, with processions, individual dances and on an epic scale. The basis of the libretto came from Charles Perrault’s La Belle au bois dormant. Vsevolozhsky asked Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to be the composer of the production-to-be. Letters remain of Tchaikovsky to an official: “Regarding the ballet, I can say to you that I adore the plot, and I am most delighted to be involved in it.” The music for the production was ready by 1889, and Marius Petipa began work on the ballet. The premiere of the ballet The Sleeping Beauty took place on 3 January 1890 at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre. The role of Aurora was performed by Carlotta Brianza, and that of Prince Désiré by Pavel Gerdt. Since then the ballet has been subject to many amendments. After the Russian Revolution, The Sleeping Beauty was revived by Fyodor Lopukhov in 1922, and in 1952 Konstantin Sergeyev created his own version of the ballet, to this day performed at the Mariinsky Theatre. In 1999 Petipa’s masterpiece was restored by Sergei Vikharev in its original form.

On 12 and 13 December The Sleeping Beauty will see several debuts: Anastasia Kolegova will appear as Princess Aurora (12 December), Viktoria Krasnokutskaya will perform as the Candide Fairy (12 December) and the Violente Fairy (13 December), Keenan Kampa as the Sapphire Fairy (12 December), Yulia Stepanova as the Lilac Fairy (13 December), and Arina Varentseva as Princess Florine. On 13 December the role of the Queen will be danced by Yekaterina Mikhailovtseva for the first time. Alisa Sodoleva will perform the role of the Tender Fairy .