Ballet extravaganza in 3 acts
Artistic Director of the Theater Honored Artist of Russia - Andrian Fadeev
Music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky Choreography by Marius Petipa and Jean-Guillaume Bar
Set Designer Olga Shaishmelashvili
Lighting Designer Eugene Ganzburg
Conductor: Valentin Bogdanov
The ballet Sleeping Beauty was the first collaboration between the Leonid Jacobson Ballet Theater and the famous French choreographer, teacher and dancer of the Paris Opera Jean Guillaume Bar. The choreographer has already worked in Russia. In 2007, he directed the ballet Corsair at the Yekaterinburg Opera and Ballet Theater. But in the St. Petersburg theater, the choice fell on Sleeping Beauty, especially since the Bar Danseur Etoile at one time received precisely for the performance of the role of Prince Desiree.
The Sleeping Beauty was staged in St. Petersburg in 1890. And even then, this masterpiece of choreographic art was inextricably linked with France. First of all, thanks to the original choreography of the famous Marius Petipa, who took as a basis the tale of Charles Perrault and created a ballet in the style of Louis XIV, referring the audience to the golden age of classical dance and immersing in the atmosphere of Versailles.
However, over the years since the first production, the ballet has undergone significant changes. The expectations of the public, the technique of the performers and the physical form of the artists have changed. That is why the main goal of the production offered today by the Leonid Yakobson Ballet Theater was the desire to “revive” a masterpiece of the past, to make it interesting for today's audience.
The main goal of the choreographer, in turn, was the desire not to turn ballet into synthetic art, to avoid focusing on virtuosity, athleticism, and not to let dance become acrobatics. Ballet for Jean Guillaume Bar is a story told by a dance. Classical choreography, which, combined with music, has its own dynamics, expressiveness and ability to carry an idea. As an instrument for this, for example, the Carabos fairy party was created, which from a mimic (as directed in 1890) turned into a dancing one.
A surprise for the audience will also be the “pre-prologue”, which will explain the reason for the hatred of the Fairies Carabos and shed light on many events told by Perrault and Petipa.