Teen Review: The Sleeping Beauty at the San Francisco Ballet
March 13, 2019
Ronnie Sharpe
The Sleeping Beauty is back by popular demand. With spectacular sets, lavish tutus, and Tchaikovsky’s glorious score, Helgi Tomasson’s production of The Sleeping Beauty highlights our dancers’ classical virtuosity, casting its spell over a fairytale ballet of romance and wonder.
The Sleeping Beauty at the San Francisco Ballet captures that timeless fairytale magic I envision from this classic tale. The performance follows the familiar story of the heroine escaping a fatal curse with the help of the good fairy. But beyond the story the costumes were absolutely stunning and fun, the different character are colorful and amazing (the cats and blue birds were my personal favorites) and the live orchestra was flawless with Tchaikovsky’s brilliant score. There is also some smoke and explosions when the villainous fairy appears which I thought was cool. I love the San Francisco Ballet. Personally, I found The Sleeping Beauty to be fun and highly entertaining, and I’m looking forward to seeing the Björk performance later this spring.
Amelia Sharpe
The Sleeping Beauty returns to the San Francisco Ballet stage once again, led by crowd favorite, Sasha de Sola, as Aurora. The costumes and set are dazzling and that gorgeous Tchaikovsky score, performed by the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, is sublime. The pageantry of this timeless tale is a big appeal to many young girls dressed in costume, but this performance lasts nearly three hours, and many couldn’t make it to the end. It still didn’t interfere with their enjoyment, but if your young child can't bear the thought of missing a single moment, you may want to consider a 2pm performance. Among the other standouts was watching the youngest performers in The Garland Dance. However, my favorite moment was meeting the proud father of one of those young performers. His beaming smile made my night.
Ronnie Sharpe