The Sleeping Beauty (Mariinsky II New Theatre, ballet)

Prologue

The King and Queen are celebrating the birth of their daughter - Princess Aurora. To the gentle sounds of harps and violins appears The Lilac Fairy with her retinue: the good fairies - The Tender Fairy, The Playful Fairy, The Generous Fairy, The Courage Fairy and The Carefree Fairy. Each of them brought their gifts to the newborn Princess.

Terrified servants announce the approach of a terrible guest - The Evil Fairy Carabosse. Old ugly Carabosse draws up the carriage driven by monsters and mice. She is angry that King and Queen forgot to invite her to the ball. Carabosse summons the vision of the young Aurora and predicts her sudden death from a knitting needle prick.

Lilac Fairy banishes Carabosse from the cradle of Aurora and promises her protection to the Princess. Good has won this battle against Evil and Evil retreats. Carabosse leaves the room, raging and threatening.

To avoid disaster predicted by the evil witch, The King issued a decree prohibiting to use needles in his kingdom on pain of death.

Act I

Princess Aurora is now sixteen years.The palace is full of guests. The suitors are presented to Aurora. She is kind to all of them, she dances with each of the suitors, but doesn’t give her preference to anyone.

An old woman with a bouquet of roses aproaches to the Princess. Aurora takes the bouquet and whirling in a waltz. Suddenly she pricks his finger, loses consciousness and falls. A sharp needle was hidden in the flowers. Everyone are seized with grief. At the moment, the old woman throws off her cloak. It is the evil Carabosse in triumph. Grooms rush to Carabosse with drawn swords, but the witch disappears.

Lilac Fairy the patroness of Aurora appears. She can not dispel evil spell of Carabosse, but she could weaken evil. "Aurora is not dead: it is not death, but a deep sleep" - says the fairy and a wave of her magic sends the entire kingdom into a deep sleep after Aurora. The grounds become overgrown with lilac bushes, hiding the castle deep in a forest.

Act II

Scene one

A hundred years later. Prince Desire is hunting in the woods with his friends. Once he is alone the Lilac Fairy appears in front of him. She summons the image of Aurora. Enchanted Prince rusns to her, but, surrounded by the Nereids, Aurora disappears. Prince wants to see her again. Together with the Lilac Fairy, Desiree sails in a boat towards the enchanted castle. The dense forest surrounds them.

Scene two

Only the evil Carabosse with her servants are awaken in the verdurous park. They block the way to anyone who intends to enter into a sleeping kingdom. Suddenly, they hear the sounds of the Lilac Fairy approaching. Carabosse is powerless. Meanwhile, Desiree has already reached the walls of the royal castle. Looking for the princess, he eagerly passes among the sleeping servants. Finally he founds sleeping Aurora. Desiree’s passionate kiss awakens the sleeping beauty. Together with her the whole kingdom wakes up. Hot feeling of the first love covers Aurora and Desiree. Struck by the beauty and charm of Aurora, Prince asks the King and Queen their daughter's hand.

Act III

Celebrating of the magnificent wedding of Aurora and Desiree in the royal palace.

There are fairy tales characters among the guests: The Bluebeard with his wife, Princess Florine and the Blue Bird,  Puss in Boots and the White Cat, Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood, Tom Thumb and his brothers and Ogre chasing them. Cinderella runs and loses his shoeб prince Fortune founds it.

The fairies of diamonds, sapphires, gold and silver congratulate Aurora and Desiree.

The happy couple - Aurora and Desiree - are dancing.

Apotheosis

There general rejoicing comes. From the sparkling cascade Lilac Fairy appears - it is the personification of the triumph of good.