Few days ago I went to the cinema to watch a life streaming of a ballet from The Royal Opera House in London – The Sleeping Beauty.

I guess that everyone knows the tale about young princess being cursed and put to sleep by an evil fairy and then woken up after 100 years by Prince’s kiss. As I later found out, the story is older than Walt Disney’s cartoon – much older. According to Wikipedia, first records of it come from around 1330. Along with the long history, I was also surprised about the variations in the story as well as ending, which in some cases extend far beyond marriage of the couple in love. I will leave the research for you, if you are interested 🙂

The Ballet version does not change the commonly known story, but tells it in a very different language – through dance and music. I loved it! It is so calming and relaxing to see people move in a harmony with music. Everything and everyone has its place on the stage, nothing happens out of order (not in a sense of error, but in a sense that does not break the harmony of movement and flow and feel of the show).

There were many memorable moments during the 3 act show, such as first entrance of Carabosse (wicked fairy) or lonely dance of the Prince Florimund. My favourite tho, was the performance of the White Cat and Puss-in-Boots. The music was comical, and the moves were very cat-like and plain funny with a hint of sensuality. I only found an older version on Youtube, in which, in my opinion, the dancers are a bit stiff. I much preferred the latest performance.