Assorted, brief thoughts on ROH's Sleeping Beauty (2017)
I made a thread a few days ago and the big recommendations I got were the ROH and Australian Ballet Sleeping Beauty stagings. I just watched the ROH and was seriously impressed. First off, big thanks to u/Free-IDK-Chicken for recommending this one, it was, indeed, basically everything I was looking for:
- The first thing that stood out, somewhat unexpectedly, was the blocking and posing during the ensembles. Seriously, just look at this at the end of the prologue:
The whole choreography's full of strong "compositions" like that.
- The second thing that stood out is that Marianela Núñez is less beholden to the effects of gravity than the rest of us mortals. Seriously, though, she's a marvel, her movements look incredibly smooth, graceful and, most importantly free of tension (she even looks like she's easy to lift in the Pas de Deux). Her other big asset is how extremely "musical" she is, in the sense that she's quite on the beat a lot of the time, making it very easy to appreciate the danceable qualities of Tchaikovsky's music (something the other productions I had watched hadn't really let me experience). "One leg lifts with the violin, the other with the harp", I said during her Act I variation, and I think it's marvelous how on sync she is, and how she acts it out, too! Great Aurora all-around.
The whole ensemble is very musical, in fact. Big props especially to all the fairies (both the six fairies in the prologue and the Jewel fairies and their page in Act III). It's great to get a whole cast like that after two productions where the dancing from the ensemble didn't particularly stand out.
In general, the mime is quite strong, aided by some judicious cuts to better pace it. I particularly enjoyed how in the Vision Scene, it was clear that Aurora and the Lilac Fairy didn't let the Prince approach until he was patient and allowed her to come over first. The swift confession felt earned and by that point I was completely hooked on the fantasy. Big props also to what this production does with Carabosse, too, and to Kristen Mcnally, all her scenes are a riot.
- Lilac Fairy present and dancing through all acts? Hell to the yeah, wave that baton, Claire Clavert! Loved her apparition in Act I, too, another great example of this production's sense of blocking:
- With so many child pages (and so much pageantry in the prologue, just as it should be!), I was a little disappointed the production didn't add Tom Thumb and his brothers to Act III. We still got the more or less usual amount, plus Riding Hood, the Wolf, and a few extras in the ensemble (Beauty and the Beast, I think Cinderella and her Prince, and another I dunno). On the other hand, everything about it was splendidly on-point with great costumes, especially those of the cats:
Appreciate that they took the work to introduce them properly during the Polonaise, too, really helped the whole sequence feel more cohesive.
- That use of... curtains (? I don't know the proper theatrical name) to simulate caves and tree leaves during the Panorama? Absolutely beautiful:
So yeah, a really charming production that finally sold me on the idea that this work can be staged successfully. Looking forward to what the Australian Ballet does with it.
