Choreography after Marius Petipa
Additional Choreography and Staging by Kevin McKenzie,
Gelsey Kirkland and Michael Chernov
Music by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky
Scenery by Tony Walton
Costumes by Willa Kim
Additional Designs by Holly Hynes
Lighting by Richard Pilbrow and Dawn Chiang
Assistant Scenery Designer: Kelly Hanson
Assistant Costume Design: Richard Schurkamp



World Premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York on June 1, 2007. The dancers were Veronika Part (Princess Aurora), Marcelo Gomes
(Prince Désiré), Michele Wiles (Lilac Fairy), Martine van Hamel (Carabosse), Xiomara Reyes (Princess Florine), Herman Cornejo (Bluebird), Maria Riccetto (Sincerity), Yuriko Kajiya (Ferver), Sarah Lane (Charity), Zhong-Jing Fang (Joy) and Stella Abrera (Valor).

World Premiere: (original version)Imperial Ballet, Maryinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, 1/15/1890
Original Cast: Carlotta Brianza (Princess Aurora), Pavel Gerdt (Prince Charming), Enrico Cecchetti (Carabosse), Marie Petipa (Lilac Fairy), Enrico Cecchetti, Barbara Nikitina (Bluebird pas de deux)

Previous Productions:

American Ballet Theatre presented its first full-length production of The Sleeping Beauty, with choreography by Mary Skeaping from the original of Marius Petipa and the staging of Nicholas Sergeyev, at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, on June 15, 1976. Sets and costumes were by Oliver Messel. The dancers were Natalia Makarova (Princess Aurora), Mikhail Baryshnikov (Prince Florimund), Martine van Hamel (Lilac Fairy), Dennis Nahat (Carabosse), Fernando Bujones (The Bluebird), and Yoko Morishita (Princess Florine).

The Sleeping Beauty, with choreography after Marius Petipa and staging and additional choreography by Sir Kenneth MacMillan, received its World Premiere at the Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, on February 11, 1987. The dancers were Susan Jaffe (Princess Aurora), Robert Hill (Prince Désiré), Leslie Browne (Lilac Fairy), Victor Barbee (Carabosse), Marianna Tcherkassky (Princess Florine), and Johan Renvall (The Bluebird).

PRINCESS AURORA(a suite of divertissements from Petipa's full-length The Sleeping Beauty)
Choreography by Anton Dolin, after Marius Petipa
Choreography for Three Ivans by Bronislava Nijinska
Scenery and costumes by Leon Bakst
Scenery by Michel Baronoff, after original designs by Leon Bakst
Costumes by Barbara Karinska, after original designs by Leon Bakst
Premiere: Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, 10/23/41
Cast: Irina Baronova (Princess Aurora), Anton Dolin (Prince Charming), Nina Popova, Lucia Chase, Sono Osato, Karen Conrad, Nora Kaye, Annabelle Lyon, Irina Baronova (Seven Variations), Nora Kaye, Rosella Hightower, Charles Dickson (Pas de Trois), Lucia Chase, Simon Semenoff (Cats), Karen Conrad, Ian Gibson (Bluebirds)

PRINCESS AURORA (a suite of divertissements from Petipa’s full-length The Sleeping Beauty) Staged byGeorge Balanchine, after the choreography of Marius Petipa
Scenery by Michel Baronoff, after original designs by Leon Bakst
Costumes by Karinska, after original designs by Leon Bakst
Premiere: (of this staging) Opera House, Chicago, Illinois, 4/2/49
Dancers: Nana Gollner (Princess Aurora), John Kriza (Prince Charming), Lillian Lanese, Janet Reed, Dorothy Scott, Ruth Ann Koesun, Diana Adams (Five Variations), Norma Vance, Jocelyn Vollmar, Wallace Seibert (Pas de Trois), Maria Tallchief, Igor Youskevitch (Bluebirds)
New York Premiere: (of this staging) Metropolitan Opera House, 4/21/49
Dancers: same as above except John Kriza (Variation VI), Nana Gollner (Variation VII), Paul Godkin replaced Wallace Seibert


Prologue - The Christening: Dawn in the Castle Throne Room
King Florestan and his Queen are at last celebrating the christening of their long awaited newborn daughter Aurora.

Catalabutte, the King’s loyal minister, is checking the invitation list to make sure that no one has been forgotten. The good fairies, led by the Lilac Fairy, have been invited to be godmothers to the little Princess. Upon her they bestow magical gifts, blessing her with every imaginable virtue so that some day she can marry the perfect prince. This, in turn, will seal the security and happiness of the kingdom.

Just as the ceremony is coming to a happy conclusion, the evil fairy Carabosse arrives and, in revenge for being left off the invitation list, declares that the Princess will prick her finger with a spindle and die.

Averting this tragedy, the Lilac Fairy promises that Aurora will not die, but will instead fall into a deep sleep that will last a hundred years or more. At the end of that time, a king's son shall awaken her with a kiss.

King Florestan at once forbids all persons in the kingdom to keep a keep a spindle, under pain of death.
Act I - The Spell: Sixteen years later in the Castle Garden
It is Princess Aurora’s sixteenth birthday, and princes from the four corners of the earth seek her hand in marriage.

Before the festivities begin, Catalabutte catches the village gossips with a banned spindle.

The King blames Catalabutte for the presence of the banned spindle and condemns him to death. In response to the Queen’s pleas, the King shows mercy and grants a pardon. Then, the festivities begin.

At the height of the celebration, Carabosse, in disguise, presents Aurora with a spindle. Unaware of the danger, Aurora pricks her finger and collapses, as if dead. Carabosse reveals herself in triumph and vanishes. Just in time the Lilac Fairy appears and casts a spell of sleep over the entire kingdom. She tells the King and Queen they must leave the castle and leave Aurora to her destiny.

ACT II – Prince Désiré’s Journey: More than a century later
Prince Désiré is hunting by the river with members of his court. Mysteriously, a vision of Aurora’s castle appears and he is thereafter distracted from the merriments of the hunt party.

As the court is leaving to continue the hunt, the Prince realizes he is at a crossroads. He must choose between returning to his life in the court or to stay in the mysterious forest. The Prince decides to stay. The Lilac Fairy appears and grants him a vision of Aurora’s beauty. He declares his love for the Princess and is led to the castle where, guarded by Carabosse, Aurora sleeps.

Together, the Prince and the Lilac Fairy’s magic defeat the evil Carabosse. The Prince awakens Aurora with a kiss and the spell is broken.
ActIII – The Wedding Celebration: Dawn in the Transformed Kingdom
The whole kingdom celebrates the wedding of Prince Désiré and Princess Aurora. The guests include fairy tale characters who present their stories as gifts to the royal couple. Prince Désiré and Princess Aurora are crowned with glory, and their reign of light begins.