Of all productions in the entire National Ballet of Canada repertoire, I've seen this venerable production of The Sleeping Beauty the most often (apart from the annual Nutcracker, of course). Originally staged and adapted by the legendary Rudolf Nureyev from Marius Petipa's classic version, it's not quite the oldest production in the company's roster, but it has undoubtedly been danced more often than any other except The Nutcracker. There are a whole raft of reasons for that fact, but fact it is -- and I've covered many of the reasons in earlier reviews of previous stagings. Here are the links to those, so you can read my comments on those previous occasions.
March 2018: The Magnetic Magic of Sleeping Beauty
June 2015: Beauty Beyond the Reach of Time
For now, I am going to simplify matters by going straight to the performance I saw this week. This was a Saturday matinee in a remounting designed to commemorate the National Ballet's first staging of this Rudolf Nureyev production fifty years ago, in 1972. The event was marked by a short commentary in the programme book from Veronica Tennant, one of the young Canadian dancers who first performed these roles at that time, in her case dancing the role of Aurora opposite Rudolf Nureyev himself. From her words, you can sense the sheer dynamic excitement which attended that legendary production, a true "coming of age" moment for what was, at the time, still a young company.
The roles of Aurora and (in the Nureyev production) Prince Florimund are major testing roles for young dancers moving upwards towards the top ranks. On Saturday, we had a chance to watch one of the two new Auroras making their role debuts this year, First Soloist Calley Skalnik (the other was First Soloist Jeannine Haller). Skalnik's performance immediately scored with the light-hearted, playful exuberance of the young princess in Act I, moving on to a more thoughtful, subtle reading of the Act II dream sequence and a dynamic performance in the final grand pas de deux. Technically impressive in both the Rose Adagio and the pas de deux, Skalnik will be worth watching as her performance of this role grows.
As Florimund, we had Principal Dancer Brendan Saye, whose work was notable for insightful interpretation and secure partnering. Above all, he scored in the long introspective solo of Act II. This was a complete invention of Nureyev's, one of several additions he made to the role. For it, he picked up a slow entr'acte originally designed to bridge the scene change towards the end of the act, a bridge which simply isn't needed with modern scenic design and set change methods. Pure dance, of course, but also a significant contribution to the portrait of the prince -- and Saye communicated the man's unrest with great finesse.
Both of these excellent performers had significant moments where you could forget to think about their technique and simply concentrate on their characters' immersion in the story they were telling. All the same, their technical flair was certainly noteworthy.
In what's become a much rarer event than in earlier days, a pre-show announcement listed off a series of cast changes involving a number of the featured Fairy roles in the Prologue and Act III. I didn't have time to note all the switches involved, but that announcement did draw my attention to the depth and strength of the company in filling all of these "minor" roles. They are minor, in the sense of lasting only a minute or so each, but the Fairy variations of the Prologue and the wedding celebration challenge the dancers to complete a portrait, with characteristic footwork and port de bras, even finger positions, a critical part of each one -- and all in a very brief time span.
It's a significant pointer to the overall strength of the company that, with five (I think) dancers appearing in roles they originally didn't expect to fill on this date, there were no significant hiccups or issues, and no need to suggest that any of them "were very good -- considering...." All were impressive.
More contributions to the playfulness of the performance came from the whimsical tone adopted by Rebekah Rimsay as the Countess in Act II, and the team of Dukes and Duchesses who dance with her in the hunt scene.
The third act divertissement brought one welcome surprise. The performance skipped over the slow, stately sarabande which normally opens the act. This was another of Nureyev's displacements, the music originally designed to come after the pas de deux and before the final grand waltz. I've always felt that using it to open the act was an error, a significant slowing-down of the performance's momentum.
In the pas de cinq, Genevieve Penn Nabity (role debut) and Christopher Gerty presented an impressive duo as the two Diamonds.
In another role debut, Larkin Miller did impressive work in the soaring leaps of the Bluebird, although I would welcome a slightly freer, more winglike use of the arms. Miyoko Koyasu presented a graceful Princess Florine.
Clare Peterson and Isaac Wright, both in role debuts, brought out plenty of chuckles from the audience as the playful Pussycats (a holdover from the story of Puss in Boots in Ivan Vsevolozhsky's original libretto of 1889).
Finally, and by no means an also-ran, high praise for the significant work of Conductor-in-Residence Maria Seletskaja in leading the splendid National Ballet Orchestra through what stands (for me) as the most masterly ballet score in existence. I can never forget how then-Ballet Master Lindsay Fischer described the score for The Sleeping Beauty as "this marvellous symphony," and it is all of that and then some. The subtleties and excellences of the Orchestra's playing are simply too numerous to mention but gave -- as always -- immense pleasure, and the entire performance rested securely on Seletskaja's skillful conducting.
Performances of The Sleeping Beauty continue until March 27 at the Four Seasons Centre in Toronto.
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