THREE STARS

 

The Sleeping Beauty, despite Tchaikovsky’s wonderful music, is not a work to bring tears of emotion to your eyes.

A young girl disobeys her parents and is put to sleep for a hundred years. She is wakened by a complete stranger and instantly marries him, and that’s it.

But this work is the greatest showpiece for the quality of a classical ballet company, and requires strength in depth as it contains many small but difficult roles, and also demanding ensembles for the corps de ballet. Performed in sumptuous costumes by Nicholas Georgiadis, the English National Ballet’s production looks great, and makes for a fine evening’s entertainment, even though perhaps not quite touching the heights.

Having said that, Erina Takahashi makes a radiant Aurora, dancing beautifully, and showing a lot of personality. She is one of the few Auroras I have seen who actually looks with interest at the four suitors who have travelled from afar to meet her.

As to the fabled balances of the Rose Adage, she turns their technical difficulty into a triumph of unsupported equilibrium. Takahashi’s Prince is the young Yonah Acosta, nephew of the renowned Carlos. I had not seen him for some time, and he has matured into a real man, powerful and authoritative, with a terrific jump. Lauretta Summerscales gives warmth to the Lilac Fairy, and Fabian Reimair is the slimiest Carabosse I have seen, replacing fury with venomous bile.

Until Saturday
Box office: 0844 871 3020 or atgtickets.com/oxford)