I’m so excited for tonight’s full-length ballet!  Thursday at The Theater: The Sleeping Beauty with Rudolf Nureyev and Veronica Tennant as Princess Aurora. I found this amazing video from 1972 with the National Ballet of Canada, with footage of Nureyev introducing the ballet.

The witch Carabosse by Léon Bakst. Image in the Public Domain.

Thursday at The Theater: The Sleeping Beauty with Rudolf Nureyev

History of The Ballet

The Sleeping Beauty  is a ballet in a prologue and three acts, first performed in 1890. The music is by Pyotr Tchaikovsky (his Opus 66). The original scenario was conceived by Ivan Vsevolozhsky, and is based on Charles Perrault’s La Belle au bois dormant. The choreographer of the original production was Marius Petipa.

The premiere performance took place at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg in 1890. The work has become one of the classical repertoire’s most famous ballets.

To read entire history behind this ballet go to wikipedia.org.

Do watch it all the way to the end, as you’ll see how the crowd gives Nureyev and Tennant a standing ovation!

The Sleeping Beauty with The National Ballet of Canada, 1972, courtesy of YouTube.

Thursday at The Theater: The Sleeping Beauty with Rudolf Nureyev from 1972 is to watch ballet history from over 40 years ago. And to see Nureyev dance, even if it’s only on video, is a breathtaking experience. I hope you will enjoy it! Tell your friends… See you next Thursday!

For more on Rudolf Nureyev, visit these links:

• A Tribute to Nureyev
• I Am A Dancer, with Rudolf Nureyev
• Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev