Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty [DVD] [2013] [NTSC]

We all have our likes and dislikes. For instance, I've always preferred action woman Rapunzel to passive damsel Sleeping Beauty. Whilst the former uses one of her outstanding attributes to fool her captor and solve her problem, the other passively accepts every inconvenience inflicted upon her, first passively allowing herself to be induced into a long sleep and then depending on someone else to get her out of her difficulty. Although the Bolshoi Ballet dances to a high standard, what is that beside the inspiration of creative innovation? Most of us have been through the experience of seeing something or other performed immaculately to the very letter of perfection but still came away unsatisfied. We are told endlessly such things as: Bolshoi is the best; they interpret Tchaikovsky better than any other ballet company. But do they? Is it not a question of: if you get a reputation for early rising, you can lie in bed till noon? 'Oh, it must be the right way to do it because the Bolshoi is doing it that way.' So parrot the pantless* victims coming away from yet another 'danced to the rulebook' performance.Whether or not this Matthew Bourne production of Sleeping Beauty is in Gothic style is irrelevant simply because it's a brilliant, imaginatively choreographed masterpiece of the highest order that runs circles round the so called 'traditional', Bolshoi or otherwise, productions. For once the Sleeping Beauty takes on the character of a strong willed, Rapunzel type lady, here brilliantly danced by Hannah Vassallo, with a will of her own as we see when she persistently continues to reject other suitors, such as Lord Rupert (Daniel Collins), in favour of Leo, the royal gamekeeper, here attractively danced by Dominic North. Everyone involved in this production deserves the highest praise for a job well done.Something else that impresses me with this performance is the definitive way in which the various fairy folk are portrayed as strong, focussed personalities devoid of 'soppy fairy' attributes. Then we have the delight of Sleeping Beauty, when she was a baby, crawling all over the place and up the curtains, all of it carefully choreographed. This is Matthew Bourne's style. 'Give me any movement and I'll choreograph it,' he seems to say. 'I'll even choreograph one of Rossini's laundry lists it there are still any of them left lying around.' We have here a delightfully innovative choreographer of the highest order who will attract more and more people to watch and enjoy ballet.In a way it's the Swan Lake syndrome all over again. I used to get so fed up with people saying: 'O yes, you mean Swan Lake and The Nutcracker', when I mentioned the word 'ballet', that I vowed never to watch performances of these two works ever again. The very mention of 'sugar plum fairy' would send me running. Now we have Matthew Bourne, the man who can change all this. A man such as him who can choreograph the Sleeping Beauty character into being on a par with the Rapuntzel one has to be a genius and he has done just that. This is a truly wonderful performance, which I'm perfectly sure most ballet lovers will thoroughly enjoy. It's so inspiringly innovative as it re-interprets Tchaikovsky's score in scintillating fashion all along the line in this excellent Blu-Ray, no problems, recording.. Brilliant.* pantless. They've been bored off them.

I appreciate that we are all entitled to our own opinion, but I was surprised at such negative comments written on the two star review. He complained that he did not like the Gothic element, but it states clearly on the dvd cover " A Gothic Romance".I was fascinated by the refreshing choreography and the costumes. The trouble with original classical ballet is that you know what is going to happen next, whereas with modern ballet you are waiting for the next exciting movement and drama. I love all of Matthew Bourne's productions. The bonus feature of the backstage scenes and interview was well worth watching, I had no idea that there were only 17 dancers performing. Historically the story of Sleeping Beauty had been told in many different versions, and depicted in the varied artwork shown throughout the eras. There is so much work needed to produce the finished product, and I admire the stagehands, the scenery painters, the costume designers, make up artists and all those involved. This version included a very realistic baby, and was the highlight of the show. So much so that Matthew Bourne did not want it to be included in the curtain call at the end because it might have upstaged everyone! Definitely worth another viewing.

Swan Lake will always be my favourite ballet but Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty is an extremely close second! I was lucky enough to see a live performance of this ballet at Liverpool Empire Theatre and it was one of the best ballet performances I have ever been to.The subtitle is 'a gothic romance' and the characters, costumes and backdrops are all superb. The ballet consists of four acts:(1) 1890: The Baby Aurora(2) 1911: Aurora Comes of Age(3) 2011: Aurora Wakes Up(4) Yesterday: Aurora's WeddingThe music by Tchaikovsky is nothing short of epic, as the music is in Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. When the Sleeping Beauty Waltz in Act 2 played at Liverpool Empire Theatre the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. It's great to see this ballet on DVD but nothing compares to the live experience.The DVD comes complete with a 53 minute long documentary entitled 'Imagine-A Beauty is Born: Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty' and it was interesting to learn in the documentary that the vampiric elements in the ballet were inspired by the television series True Blood and that Matthew Bourne draws inspiration from a lot of films in his ballet productions. There is also a booklet enclosed explaining the seeds of inspiration behind the production.This is a magnificent and wonderful ballet and words don't do it justice, you need to see it for yourself. If you've missed the opportunity to see it live or if you have seen it live and would like to relive those magisterial moments again then add this DVD to your basket-you won't be disappointed!

I thoroughly enjoyed this - far more than I’d expected to. I watched it live and loved it so much I ordered the dvd the next day. It’s imaginative, the music of course is beautiful, the dancing exquisite. If I’d known it’s more about vampires and dark magic I might not have been interested, but it was skilfully executed and stunningly presented. The baby was a delight too. I shall be watching this over and over.