BWW Reviews: SLEEPING BEAUTY at New Wimbledon Theatre
Ballet may be something of an esoteric pursuit - a closed world peopled by those who have the specialist knowledge required to understand the difference between a pas de chat and a pas de cheval (which is less to the untrained eye than the difference between a cat and a horse). I don't believe that ballet is so exclusive - indeed, any form of theatre should be accessible to those with eyes to see and ears to hear (though I concede that some background knowledge may enhance the experience).
The Russian State Ballet and Orchestra of Siberia's Sleeping Beauty (at New Wimbledon Theatre and on tour) is perfectly accessible, combining the wonderful music of Tchaikovsky (I recognised some of it from the Disney film) and spectacular dancing in sensational costumes. There's a lot of aesthetic beauty on stage - not just in the way the performers look as beautiful people - but in the lines and shapes they make with their bodies as they complement the emotional thrust of the music as the melodies, as much as the dancing, tells the familiar tale.
Even my untrained eye picked up some technical deficiencies in the dancers' spotting of some landings, but Maria Kuimova was a huge presence on stage as Princess Aurora, adored by the girls and women in a predominantly female audience. There was fun too in the short dances illustrating fairy tales, including a pair of highly eroticised cats that stopped just short of what cats do down the alleyways at the back of the theatre. The show probably didn't run like clockwork but there's, well, clockwork ballet dancers if you want that.
Apart from the spectacle and the story, I was left, as I have been every time I see dance, with a feeling of admiration and wonder at the strength and balance of the men and women of the company. As in sports, balance is the dividing line between the goodish amateur and the gifted professional - it is the key to unlocking the grace in any activity. There really isn't that much that separates these ballet dancers from Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azerenka who will be playing tennis just up the hill come high summer. And if you like tennis (or any sport) you'll like ballet - if you have eyes to see.
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