THE Royal Ballet is broadcasting its signature production of The Sleeping Beauty to Merseyside cinemas on Thursday.
The evening performance will be streamed live from London’s Royal Opera House.
First staged in St Petersburg in 1890, the classical ballet marrying Petipa’s choreography and Tchaikovsky’s music.
Revived in 2006 for the company’s 75th birthday, the production features Oliver Messel’s original designs re-imagined by Peter Farmer and additional choreography by Anthony Dowell, Christopher Wheeldon and Frederick Ashton.
Lauren Cuthbertson stars as Princess Aurora, who pricks her finger on a needle as sleeps for 100 years, while Sergei Polunin dances Prince Florimun and Boris Gruzin. Tchaikovsky’s enchanting score is captured on Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, while the dancers and dramatic sets, ranging from grand palaces to shadowy ruins, are shot from various points across the auditorium and presented in HD.
Mark De Quervain, sales and marketing director of Vue Entertainment, which is showing the ballet in its Southport and Cheshire Oaks cinemas, says: “It’s a really accessible performance for people who aren’t regular ballet fans, but still offers something for the aficionados.”
The Sleeping Beauty is also being screened at FACT’S Picturehouse cinema and the Empire in Wigan.
FURTHER details and box office links at http://cinema.roh.org.uk
