Let's be honest, Russia is to Ballet as much as Italy is to Opera. You expect Russian Ballet to be good, and Moscow Ballet La Classique's touring production of Sleeping Beauty lived up to every expectation, and raised the bar even higher for any future ballet performances to come to Taranaki.
My fellow reviewer was my daughter, who at the age of seven, loves tutus, ballet and fairytale princesses, so this was obviously going to be a match made in heaven for her.
As the lights dimmed, we both held our breath as the curtains came up and the dancers began to weave their magic. From the very first moment, we were captivated by every detail played out on the stage in front of us. King Florestan, played by Evgenii Sharipov captured the audience with his stage presence. His role requires him to sit and watch much of the action, yet with just a few hand and eye movements he had us fully engaged with him and he carried the story throughout along with his consort, the queen.
The evil and vindictiveness of Carabosse was brought to life by Andrei Shalin, who somehow made a graceful creature of the hunchbacked wicked fairy. As one of the two choreographers for the production, it would seem his talent has no end.
Every time the Lilac Fairy appeared on stage, the audience held its breath. Everyone was completely enthralled by her beauty and seemingly effortless grace as she danced her way through some complicated solo pieces which beautifully showed off her skill.