Stefanelle Cachia is enchanted by the high standards shown during a production of Sleeping Beauty by the students of the Brigitte Gauci Borda School of Dance.
Sleeping Beauty is one of those fairy tale stories that can warm your heart. It is, essentially, a story about good winning over the evil, a portrayal that true love can conquer all. Add a princess and prince charming, some fairies and the story becomes truly magical.
As a child, I grew up watching the Disney video of Sleeping Beauty day in day out, making this story one of my all-time favourites. The ballet interpretation of the story is even more enchanting, with beautiful ballerinas and many colourful characters being presented in the story.
Being one of my favourite stories, and having seen many companies perform this ballet, usually makes me quite sceptic when approaching another production, as I do not want a bad rendition of it tainting my memories. However, I was certainly not disappointed when I went to watch students from the Brigitte Gauci Borda school performing Sleeping Beauty. On the contrary, I was genuinely, and pleasantly surprised.
The Mediterranean Conference Centre was bustling with people, most of whom were unfamiliar to me, which was interesting as it created a new, dynamic audience.
The excitement in the theatre was building up, until the house lights dimmed slowly, indicating that the curtains would soon be drawn and the performance begin. Then, the first few notes of Tchaikovsky’s hair-raising score started playing and you one could feel the electricity in the air.
I confess to having some mixed feelings prior to the start of the show; given this was a school production, I was not sure what to expect. Nonetheless, I was impressed with what was presented.
The students had a very strong technique and performed with incredible passion. I was most impressed with the younger children, who were superbly-disciplined, especially when it came to formations within a group. All the ensembles, from the oldest to the very youngest, were perfectly coordinated to move together in a group then break off in lines to cross each other, and then merge, again among other things.
It was like watching clockwork. The synchronisation was impeccable – a feat that is extremely hard to manage, sometimes even with full-time professional dancers. The choreography, for the most part of the performance and especially for the ensemble groups, was kept simple and level-appropriate for the students.
Yet, it was still challenging enough to keep everyone on their toes. This was, indeed, refreshing as it allowed the audience to appreciate that, even the simplest of choreographies can be made to look complicated through orchestration and formations of ensembles.
The performance starts with Aurora’s christening, which sets the narrative of the whole story. Six fairies representing different qualities – Purity, Vitality, Generosity, Joy, Courage and Wisdom (better known as the Lilac Fairy) are asked to bestow their individual gifts to the baby princess. However, before all of them succeed, the evil witch Carabosse interrupts the ceremony to show her displeasure of not being invited. In revenge, she curses the princess to die on her 16th birthday. However, the Lilac Fairy manages to change this curse to eternal sleep until the princess is awoken by true love’s kiss.
This scene is mainly highlighted by the fairies’ solo performances. Their appearance on stage was enchanting, with lovely glittering tutus surrounded by small groups of little fairies which glided gracefully across the stage as if they were truly flying.
The students had a very strong technique and performed with incredible passion
The students had a very strong technique and performed with incredible passion
The fairies also gave strong individual performances in their solo parts, especially Phoebe Schembri, who performed both as the Fairy of Purity and Princess Florine in Act III. Phoebe not only demonstrated excellent technique, but also exceptional artistry in her performance, making her a dancer to keep an eye out for in the future. Lynne Salomone Reynaud, cast as the Lilac Fairy (a very prestigious role in the ballet world), also gave a very passionate and expressive performance
The second scene presents Aurora’s 16th birthday. This was the first instant that the audience got a glimpse of Claire Calvert, one of The Royal Ballet Company’s soloists. Her appearance on stage was as dazzling as the tutu she was wearing and her performance in this scene was joyful and playful – representing the youth and vitality of a 16-year-old. During this scene, Aurora performed the Rose Adagio, one of the most famous in ballet and the epitome to Aurora’s role. In this adagio, Aurora dances with four suitors, who each give her a rose and hope to win her affection.
I was eagerly waiting to see Calvert perform this very challenging part; however, I was slightly disappointed that the choreography was changed to an ensemble, instead of featuring the four suitors. This meant that we had to wait until we could see Calvert perform to her full potential. Nevertheless, the adapted choreography still encompassed the essence of the adagio, with the children split in four groups to represent the suitors.
At the end of this scene, Carabosse still manages to infiltrate the party and to give Aurora a spindle hidden within a bouquet. Aurora pricks her finger, falling into a deep slumber, at which point the Lilac Fairy appears to put the whole kingdom to sleep.
In the background, an animated projection of the castle grounds was creatively used to represent the Lilac Fairy’s power when she magically conceals the castle in layers of roses represented by an animated background projection.
In the third scene, the lonely Prince Désiré, performed by Enrico Montes – a First Artist at The Royal Ballet – is hunting in the forest. The Lilac Fairy appears to show him a vision of a sleeping Aurora. Here, he gets to dance with the vision of Aurora, with the audience enjoying the very first opportunity to see two Royal Ballet dancers perform together.
Having two guest stars from the Royal Ballet was a major perk to this performance and it was a treat to watch such professional and high standards in dance.
At the end of their performance together, the Lilac Fairy shows Prince Désiré the way to the desert. Carabosse makes an appearance to try to stop them, but the Lilac Fairy manages to repel her. The prince finally kisses the princess and the whole kingdom awakens.
The fourth and final scene portrays the grand ball, when Princess Aurora and Prince Désiré get married. Many characters from all over the kingdom attend to celebrate the event, from white cats to ogres, Princess Florine and the Bluebird, Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf and even Cinderella makes an appearance. When all the characters have performed a short dance in celebration of this event, the prince and princess perform the great pas de deux, superbly executed and a perfect finale to this enchanting story.
The production managed to keep everything simple while resulting in a strong performance. And just like that, three hours passed magically and I enjoyed every second of it.