The Sleeping Beauty
English National Ballet, Coliseum
Forgive me the lame pun, but although The Sleeping Beauty is performed worldwide, there are not that many great Beauties around. One exception is, arguably, the one staged under Kenneth MacMillan’s supervision, first seen in Berlin in the Sixties, then reworked for American Ballet Theatre in 1986 and now performed impeccably by English National Ballet. Unlike some 20th-century stagings of the celebrated classic, MacMillan’s relies on a profound respect for performance tradition and, at the same time, a choreographically and dramaturgically vibrant reading of the old text. As such, it remains one of the clearest, most immediate and most enjoyable versions of the 1890 work, and the one to see if you want to appreciate in full what the fuss surrounding the Imperial Russian ballet tradition is about.
MacMillan’s contribution is never blatantly evident, though. His reverence for the past is clearly indicated by the way all the famous sections, including a luxurious abundance of mime scenes, remain linked to what Nicholas Sergeyev, assistant to the original choreographer Marius Petipa, passed on to British artists in the early part of the 20th century. The stylistic idiosyncrasies and nuances traditionally associated with what is generally referred to, more or less correctly, as Petipa’s style are thus preserved with care and constantly highlighted in a production that stands out for the way sets and costumes — by Peter Farmer and Nicholas Georgiadis respectively — never clutter or overwhelm the dance action, letting it sparkle in all its glory. MacMillan’s interventions are subtly woven within that traditional framework; unobtrusive interpolations that enhance the fluidity of the whole performance, adding masterfully to an already glorious choreographic layout. Unlike some of his contemporaries, the celebrated dance maker did not devise interpolations that clash vividly with Petipa’s idiom — namely one of the major problems most current productions of the same ballet suffer from.
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