THE SLEEPING BEAUTY (1890)

First performed on 3 January 1890
Ballet-féerie in three acts, with prologue

Music by Piotr Tchaikovsky
Libretto by Ivan Vsevilizhsky and Marius Petipa based on
Charles Perrault’s fairy tales
Choreography by Marius Petipa

Princess Aurora’s parents forgot to invite the wicked fairy Carabosse to her birthday. In revenge, when the Princess had already grown up and found herself a fiancé, the fairy sneaked into the palace and gave Aurora a bouquet of flowers with a knitting needle hidden in it. The Princess pricked herself and would have died if it were not for the protection of the good Lilac Fairy. Instead of death, Aurora falls into a deep sleep and with her, by the Lilac Fairy’s magic, the whole kingdom slumbers. A hundred years late, Prince Desiré is hunting in the forest that was once Aurora’s kingdom. Seeing the Princess in a vision, he seeks her and finds the sleeping beauty in the abandoned royal castle. His kiss awakens Aurora and the entire kingdom. The Prince asks the King and Queen for their daughter’s hand. The wedding is celebrated on a grand scale in the castle, with many fairy-tale personages among the guests.