The American Ballet Theatre closed out its season at The Metropolitan Opera House yesterday with The Sleeping Beauty. This show is a beautiful way to finish a season since it contains so much gorgeous dancing. I loved this production when we saw it in 2011 and it delighted me all over again.
Principal dancer Xiomara Reyes was in the leading role of Princess Aurora yesterday afternoon. She was exquisite. There’s so much intense pointe work in this show and she executed it in a way that made it look like the most natural thing in the world. She had a sequence of balancing where different princes would twirl her and she’d come back to the same starting position. It was incredible to watch her maintain her pointe on one foot for several of these twirls.
Alban Lendorf, an exchange artist from the Royal Danish Ballet, was in the role of Prince Désiré (shown in this picture from one of his performances of the role with the Royal Danish company). The grand pas de deux he performed with Reyes in Act III was incredible. He had some stunning lifts along with jumps that were amazing to look at. Lendorf’s work in Act II with the Lilac Fairy and the Fairy Attendants was so graceful and was a perfect male counterpoint to the women.
Other standouts of the afternoon were Yuriko Kajiya as the Lilac Fairy. Like Reyes, Kajiya had some intense pointe and balance work and it was all flawless and sublime. Stella Abrera as Princess Florine and Sascha Radetsky as The Bluebird had some beautiful partnering and solo work in Act III as part of the wedding.
It’s was a very satisfying spring/summer season and we’re already looking forward to ABT’s fall season, which will be at the Koch Theatre at Lincoln Center. We’ve seen the list of performances and as soon as casts are announced and tickets go on sale we’ll make a selection or two from those 11 days of performances in late October and early November.
We’ve also got tickets in the fall for the City Center engagement of Matthew Bourne’s gothic/vampire version of The Sleeping Beauty.