Sleeping Beauty

Ah, I've been waiting for Ballet Arizona to do Sleeping Beauty again because I've been hoping for years to see this ballet. I absolutely could not miss it this time, no matter any inconvenience. Because Tchaikovsky, Tchaikovsky is just the best.

With a ballet, as I've mentioned before, especially one like this one, watching is much like viewing a silent film. The performers are portraying a story with their movements and the accompanying music provides the backdrop for it all. Except that when it's music like this, the music itself is so stirring and so rich and so gorgeous that it is the music that is holding you and guiding you. Just to go and hear this music played live would have been worth it.

And yet it wasn't just music. There were also the usual elaborate and beautiful costumes and sets that Ballet Arizona does so well. The Nutcracker is the one that gets all the attention, but really they do a great job with their other productions, as well. Sleeping Beauty, too, just lends itself to visuals. The interior of a castle or a peaceful woodland. The dresses of royalty or the garb of fairies.

I sometimes don't entirely know what I think of ballet. Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake are amazing because, you know, Tchaikovsky. So I think that's what I need with ballet. I need a bit of magic to it. Whether it's magic in the awe of it like with Opus Cactus (although was that even entirely ballet?), or with the fairy tale quality to every detail of the production that exists with shows like this one. The magic is what gives me the connection.