I am never excited about The Sleeping Beauty. I will go see it, but always with a bit of reluctance. It’s so long: I’d be happy to watch only the Prologue and Act III. Yet here it was, back in repertory at San Francisco Ballet after a decade and opening their 2018 season.

The performance turned out to be such a pleasant surprise! I enjoyed it so much more than I remembered. And while it was long (2 hours and 47 minutes, including intermissions), I did not get bored. Swan Lake, it should be noted, is also quite long, it just happens to have more drama!

The Sleeping Beauty, like many of the big story ballets, tends to be set in an ambiguous medieval past. But time is important in The Sleeping Beauty, with its 100-year sleep, and companies often seem to struggle to bridge that gap effectively. Not so San Francisco Ballet, with gorgeous sets and costumes that transition from 17th to 18th century Russia, with the rise of Peter the Great and his interest in bringing a European influence to the country (which explains why the Prince is wearing a powdered wig!). The program even went so far as to explain this, which I appreciated immensely. It seems like a little thing, but I think it helps ground the ballet.

This is a “big ballet.” It has a large cast and lots of dancing, at least for the women. One thing that is really valuable about the big ballets is that so many dancers get an opportunity to be seen. While the principal roles were danced by, well, principals (Sasha De Sola as Aurora, Carlo di Lanno as Prince Desiré, Sarah Van Patten as Lilac Fairy—all dancing beautifully), the many solo and character roles were danced primarily by corps members. It was nice to see so many people who I don’t recognize stepping up to the plate and tossing off variations with ease. (It’s also a vaguely discouraging reminder that many corps dancers are the technical equals of principals and are simply waiting to be noticed or for the chance to move up.)

I was relieved that I was not bored during the performance; I would hate to think that someone who likes classical ballet as much as I do would be bored by it! Increasingly, though, I find that the ballets I like best are not the classics. Modern classics, perhaps, such as Romeo and Juliet, but not the true classical ballets. But it’s fascinating to revisit them. For all its formality, The Sleeping Beauty has at its heart not only a cursed princess but also a lonely prince. In the mimed dialogue between Prince Desiré and the Lilac Fairy, he reveals that he is crying because he loves no one. He wants to love, and he has a countess who is clearly besotted with him (or perhaps with the idea of being his queen someday), but he is not happy.

Another thing about The Sleeping Beauty that I noticed is that the music helps guide the audience. You don’t have to be familiar with the ballet to know when something is about to happen because the music tells you. Aurora’s first entrance? Big introduction that says, “Get ready, she’s coming!” When the Fairy of Darkness (otherwise known as Carabosse) is about to crash the party, the music turns ominous and the lighting changes—something bad is about to happen! Variations begin and end with clear musical cues, always ending with the implied directive to applaud. When I used to do outreach performances in schools, we always told the children to clap when they liked something. I think that’s appropriate for children, but in a large theater you don’t want to be the only person clapping. Hence why there’s something to be said for a production that very much guides the viewer through the show.

The older woman sitting next to me kept asking when it was going to be over. She gathered up her bags the moment the adagio of the grand pas ended, only to have to wait through the rest. So, at least one person in the audience was ready to go. As for me, I enjoyed it. It seems appropriate that San Francisco Ballet would open this season with the “ultimate” classical ballet, given that it will close with their new works festival. We really will be able to see how ballet has progressed over time!

San Francisco Ballet
January 28, 2018, 2 pm, at the War Memorial Opera House
The Sleeping Beauty