Ballet

Jean-Christophe Maillot's La Belle, music by Tchaikovsky

Bernice Coppieters (Sleeping Beauty), Chris Roelandt (The Prince), Nicolas Kahn (The King)... – Les Ballets de Monte Carlo

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Cast

Jean-Christophe Maillot — Choreographer

Philippe Guillotel — Costumes

Ernest Pignon-Ernest — Stage sets

Dominique Drillot — Lighting

Bernice Coppieters — The Sleeping Beauty

Chris Roelandt — The Prince

Nicolas Kahn — The King

Carole Pastorel — The Queen

Paola Cantalupo — The Fairy

Lilas Gaëtan Morlotti — The Queen Mother Carabosse

Pascal Molat — The King Father

Paola Cantalupo — The Lilac Fairy

Kirov Orchestra

Valery Gergiev — Music director

Program notes

Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Sleeping Beauty returns to Charles Perrault’s original narrative, exploring what happens after the “happily-ever-after”... His 2001 choreography starred Bernice Coppieters (The Sleeping Beauty) and Chris Roelandt (The Prince), with the Kirov Orchestra under Music Director Valery Gergiev’s baton performing Tchaikovsky’s sumptuous score.

The Brothers Grimm (and Disney) end the tale of Sleeping Beauty, the princess cursed to an eternal sleep, with her happily marrying Prince Charming after vanquishing the evil fairy. But the original literary narrative found in Charles Perrault’s Histoires ou contes du temps passé (1697) tells a very different story. The Prince’s mother—the evil fairy Carabosse, and an ogress in disguise!—threatens the Princess Aurora and her children soon after she becomes queen. While Tchaikovsky’s original ballet more or less sticks to the less complicated Brothers Grimm version, in his 2001 production Jean-Christophe Maillot decided to bring Perrault’s tale to the stage, exploring the darker side of this coming-of-age story.

Photo: © ML Briane

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