Sleeping Beauty Rebourne: Matthew Bourne's Gothic Romance at Sadler's Wells, London

Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty: a Gothic Romance again proves New Adventures as magnet to audiences with a sell out Christmas season at Sadler's Wells. Originally premiered in 2012,
New Adventures brought back their vampiristic version of the Petipa / Tchaikovsky classic. In his re-telling based on the well-known fairy tales by Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm,  Bourne also references the traditional ballet version not only in utilising Tchaikovsky's score, but with numerous choreographic and historical courtesies to the original. Aurora, for example, is borne in 1890 the year Petipa's Sleeping Beauty premiered. In an elegant turn, her coming of age is celebrated in 1911 followed by a hundred years of sleep so that Aurora's awakening happened last night. As with his other performances, Bourne does not merely recount the fairy tale, but mixes contemporary aspects into his version. Years of vampire craze following the Twilight Saga, Vampire Diaries and True Blood series paved the way for Bourne's conversion of elegant French fairies into eerily dark vampires. The division between good and evil fairies now translates into good and evil vampires echoing films such as Interview with a Vampire and its successors.

The entire New Adventures cast give life to Bourne's fluid and passionate choreography. Bourne's sensibility to to Tchaikovsky's master work has the performers use every accent. The ensemble scenes are well laid out and the vampire fairies bow to their balletic ancestors through inclusion of some small choreographic references to the traditional fairy variations of the Petipa version. The vampire ball of the second act is reminiscent of Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake's Act III as well as the Parisian vampire theatre of Interview with a Vampire. Ashley Shaw's Aurora is spell bindingly beautiful with attention to detail, supreme musicality and intense passion of a young woman in love. Partnered by Dominic North as Leo the gardener, the pair offer one of the most beautiful versions of the Rose Adagio performed on and around a simple garden bench. North's playful and open demeanour counteracts Adam Maskell's dark and brooding Caradoc. A visual resurrection of Antonio Banderas, Maskell entrances Aurora and audiences into a ritualistic sacrifice. Aided by Count Lilac, Leo rescues Aurora to ensure the fairy tale ending can happen.

A beautiful fairy tale with gothic elements, Sleeping Beauty entertains through passionate dance, romantic imagery paired with an exceptionally talented cast and humours scenes. With its season at Sadler's Wells about to finish, the company and Sleeping Beauty will tour the country to continue their success.




Dr Astrid Bernkopf will talk on Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty as part of the Adaptation and Dance conference 2 March 2016 at DeMontford University, Leicester.