THE TRIUMPHANT RETURN OF

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY



the Acclaimed Classic and Audience Favorite Takes the Boston Stage This
Spring





BOSTON, MA - March 25, 2009 - Boston Ballet lights the stage this spring
with the acclaimed classic and audience favorite, The Sleeping Beauty,
April 24-May 3 at the Citi Wang Theatre. Marius Petipa's version of The
Sleeping Beauty, set to Tchaikovsky's brilliant score, is a tour de
force of classical dancing.



The Sleeping Beauty is derived from the "Mother Goose" tale by Charles
Perrault. It's the magical fairytale of good, evil, true love, and a
spellbound princess who sleeps for 100 years and is awakened by the kiss
of a handsome prince. Petipa's choreography is perfected with David
Walker's sets and costumes, which originated with The Royal Ballet.
Boston Ballet premiered this version in 2005.



"This Sleeping Beauty is the most exquisite in the world, and I am
excited to share it with Boston audiences once again," said Artistic
Director Mikko Nissinen. "Its clean choreography will showcase Boston
Ballet's superb technique and artistry. The tradition, emotion and
atmosphere created by the dancing, costumes and sets have made audiences
fall in love again and again."



The story of The Sleeping Beauty has a rich history in ballet. It was
Nicholas Sergeyev, a former regisseur of the Maryinsky and assistant to
Marius Petipa, who brought The Sleeping Beauty to the West. Sergeyev
left Russia in 1918 after the October Revolution, and took with him
notebooks containing choreographic notations for 21 ballets. He staged
Petipa's production of The Sleeping Beauty for the first time in 1921
for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, and again mounted the ballet in 1939 for
Ninette de Valois and the Vic-Wells Ballet, which would ultimately
become The Royal Ballet.



In 1946, it reopened the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. Ninette de
Valois oversaw the production, and included choreography by de Valois
and Frederick Ashton. The production caught the imagination of British
audiences and was beloved wherever the company traveled. In 1977, de
Valois revived The Sleeping Beauty, commissioning David Walker to design
new sets and costumes. Upon seeing the production, critic Arlene Croce
wrote, "Beauty has been reborn."



Since 1977 several different versions of The Sleeping Beauty have been
performed by The Royal Ballet. Nissinen believes Petipa's is a
production worth preserving and honoring. "Boston Ballet is thrilled to
own David Walker's costumes and sets and to reunite them with Petipa's
spectacular choreography," said Nissinen. "This is my favorite Sleeping
Beauty - a classic with a pure, unique perspective - the best version
out there."



When Boston Ballet premiered The Sleeping Beauty in 2005, The Boston
Globe raved, "The Sleeping Beauty is the greatest challenge in the
classical repertory. Boston Ballet met and conquered that challenge last
night, in the most luminous performance of "Beauty" I've seen the
company give in its 41-year history."



All performances are held at the Citi Performing Arts CenterSM Wang
Theatre.



A brief synopsis of The Sleeping Beauty is attached.



Schedule of Performances for The Sleeping Beauty

Thursday, April 23 and May 30 at 7pm

Friday, April 24 and May 1 at 8pm

Saturday, April 25 and May 2 at 2pm and 8pm

Sunday, April 26 and May 3 at 2pm



The Sleeping Beauty

Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Choreography: Marius Petipa

Additional Choreography: Sir Frederick Ashton

Production: Ninette de Valois (after Nicholas Sergeyev's 1939
production)

Set and Costume Design: David Walker



Tickets

Tickets for The Sleeping Beauty can be purchased by phone at
866.348.9738, online at www.citicenter.org <http://www.citicenter.org> ,
or in person at the Citi Performing Arts CenterSM box office, located at
270 Tremont Street in Boston's Theatre District, open Monday - Saturday
from 10am - 6pm. Prices for season ballets start at $25. Discounted
group tickets (10 or more) are available by calling Boston Ballet's
Group Sales at 617.456.6343. Rush tickets are available. Contact the
Boston Ballet box office at 617.695.6955 or visit www.bostonballet.org
<http://www.bostonballet.org> for details.



About Boston Ballet

Founded in 1963, Boston Ballet is one of the leading dance companies in
North America. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Mikko
Nissinen, the Company maintains an internationally acclaimed repertoire
of classical, neo-classical and contemporary works, ranging from
full-length story ballets to new works by some of today's finest
choreographers.



Boston Ballet's second company, Boston Ballet II, is made up of
pre-professional dancers who gain experience by performing with Boston
Ballet and as an independent group, presenting lecture-demonstrations
and unique programs to audiences throughout the Northeast. The Boston
Ballet Center for Dance Education is the largest ballet school in North
America. In service of its mission to bring the highest quality arts
education to all, it reaches and instructs more than 10,000 students of
all ages each year through Boston Ballet School, Summer Dance Workshop,
Summer Dance Program, Citydance, Taking Steps, and Adaptive Dance. The
wide array of dance education programs are held at four major ballet
studio locations, in community centers, and throughout the Boston Public
Schools.



Boston Ballet gratefully acknowledges the following institutional
partners:



State Street Corporation, 2008 Sponsor, The Nutcracker



Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation/Linda S. Waintrup, Trustee



Massachusetts Cultural Council



National Endowment for the Arts



Boston Organ & Piano, Official Piano Supplier of Boston Ballet



# # #



Marius Petipa's The Sleeping Beauty

Synopsis


PROLOGUE


The Christening

King Florestan and his Queen have invited all the Fairies to be present
as Godmothers at the christening of the infant Princess Aurora.
Unfortunately, the Fairy Carabosse has been forgotten, for she has not
been seen for a long time. But nevertheless she arrives, vastly
insulted, just as the other Fairies are bestowing their magic gifts.
She gives a spindle by way of a christening present, and then announces
that one day Aurora shall prick her finger with it and die. Happily,
the Lilac Fairy still has her own gift to bestow, and she confounds
Carabosse by promising that Aurora shall not die, but shall instead fall
into a deep sleep, from which she will be awakened after a hundred years
by a Prince's kiss.



ACT I

The Spell

It is Princess Aurora's twentieth birthday, and four Princes have come
to woo her. During the festivities a strange woman approaches and shows
her something which she has never seen before- a spindle. In examining
it she pricks her finger. At her cry the suitors rush to her aid. The
old woman throws back her cloak, revealing that she is Carabosse, and
vanishes. Now the Lilac Fairy appears to fulfill her promise. She
casts a spell of sleep over the whole scene and commands a forest to
grow up that will conceal the place.



ACT II

The Vision

A hundred years later the young Prince Florimund is hunting in this same
forest with some of his court. When a stag is sighted, the Prince's
companions join the chase, but Florimund remains behind, dreaming of an
ideal love. The Lilac Fairy appears and shows him a vision of Aurora;
she next summons the vision to dance with Florimund. He implores the
Lilac Fairy to lead him to where Aurora sleeps, and the Lilac Fairy
takes him on a journey to the overgrown and wooded palace where Aurora
lies. They encounter Carabosse outside the palace gates and the Lilac
Fairy banishes her from the kingdom. Florimund finds the Sleeping
Beauty and wakes her with a kiss. The magic spell is broken.



ACT III

The Wedding

Fairy-tale characters come to the wedding celebrations of the Prince and
Aurora. They pay their respects to the bride and bridegroom, and then
the whole assembly joins in a general dance. In an apotheosis, the
Lilac Fairy appears and blesses the marriage.