Sadly, I won't be seeing Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty because it is completely sold out but I enjoyed this programme about his working methods and was impressed by the dancers' inspirational book table. I spotted Vita Sackville-West's The Edwardians; Christopher Wood on Victorian fairies; an intriguing-looking book About the Sleeping Beauty by PL Travers, of all people (but of course, Matthew Bourne did choreograph Mary Poppins!), as well as several movie versions of Wuthering Heights.
The Lilac Fairy is a vampire and the baby Aurora reminded me of those weird dancing babies from Ally McBeal. I'll bet it's spectacular.
I saw it just before Christmas, Mary! Luckily my friend had booked us tickets yonks ago otherwise we wouldn't have got in - it was PACKED. Full house. The staging and everything was beautiful, but the story line was decidedly odd...not all it was cracked up to be. And the dancing was not exactly spectacular - it was all about the aesthetics rather than the skill. I enjoyed it very much, don't get me wrong, but for my next Christmas ballet I'll want something a little more traditional I think! I like watching all of the en pointe work etc and there's very little of that to be seen in Bourne's choreography. PLUS no live orchestra!
ReplyDeleteLucky you! I'd love to have seen it, Rachel. His choreography can be very mundane, I agree - his Nutcracker is dire - but he's such a brilliant showman. I think you enjoy it more if you stop thinking of it as ballet.
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