MILWAUKEE — It’s a classic tale: A young princess is born, but when an evil fairy is not invited to her party, she curses the newborn royal. She will prick her finger on her 16th birthday, and die. While a good fairy cannot reverse the curse, she can save the princess. She will not die when she pricks her finger, only fall asleep, and will be awoken by true love’s kiss.
And now the fairy tale is coming to the heart of downtown Milwaukee thanks to Milwaukee Ballet.
This is the first time Milwaukee Ballet has put on a production of “Sleeping Beauty” since 2008.
Artistic Diretcor Michael Pink said he knew his company was talented and strong enough to dance the classical Tchaikovsky piece, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa. He acknowledged it’s not an easy undertaking for the dancers.
“So when you look at your company, you think, ‘OK, we’ve got a really nice lineup at strong classical dancers. Why don’t we bring out ‘Sleeping Beauty’ or ‘Corsaire’ or one of the other … ‘War Horse classics,’’ largely because they have an awful lot of technical challenge,” Pink said.
The romance of a fantasy love story lends itself well to classical ballet.
“With our classical repertoire … it should look as if it’s just floating effortlessly around the stage. And that’s really hard. That’s one of the hardest things to do. Those challenges are why it’s good for us to really make sure that we stay on top of presenting these classical ballets,” Pink said.
“And the dancers just love it. It’s what they starve to do. They also love doing contemporary modern repertoire, but basically they are, they’re classical beasts who want to be challenged.”
Pink said certain elements will still be fresh for dancers and audiences alike. He has updated sets, costumes, choreography and even music, but it’s still the same story that people know and love.
“Sleeping Beauty,” he said, was originally choreographed with Mariinsky Ballet in mind. The Russian company today has 200 dancers. Pink explained that unless a company — such as the Russian Ballet or Royal Ballet — is comprised of at least 90 dancers, some updates will need to be done.
This can be a good thing, Pink explained.
“So each time these classics come up, I seize the opportunity to think, ‘OK, how can I adjust, edit and make them more applicable to the talent that we have now,’” he said. “On a creative level, is there something I wanted to re-explore or completely rethink?”
One of those creative outlets for Pink is the Carabosse, or the evil fairy. He said it’s his favorite role in the ballet because it allows him to push boundaries.
The role, Pink said, can be danced by a man or a woman — similarly to how the witched in “Macbeth” are often played by men.
“So we’re doing that because I’ve got just some great actors in the company,” Pink said. “That could turn out to be a fun, fun role.”
For this rendition of “Sleeping Beauty” specifically, Pink said he added a scene in the first act to smooth out the plot.
The first scene of the ballet is Princess Aurora’s christening. Normally, the ballet would then jump to when she’s a teenager. But Pink opted to add a scene between these two, showing the princess at 8-years-old in the palace.
“The queen has organized a little bit of entertainment to keep her occupied,” Pink said. “Because of the curse, [Aurora] is not allowed to leave the palace.”
With the additional scene, it also opens up an opportunity for young dancers from the Milwaukee Ballet Academy to dance on stage with the company. A different student dances the role of the child princess in each show, Pink said.
Another dozen Milwaukee Ballet students dance with the company as part of the waltz choreography.
Pink said he was excited to cast those young performers in “Sleeping Beauty.” Thinking back to being a young child, he remembers being in awe when he had the opportunity to see professional dancers.
“[Falling in love with and being inspired by ballet] starts from those very early days,” Pink said. “…It’s just watching the amazement and wonderment.”
Pink is proud of both the professionals and the students in “Sleeping Beauty.” One of those professional dancers is a guest artist.
Jennifer Hackbarth is a principal dancer, who most recently was in the Sarasota Ballet company, and will dance the principal role of Aurora in the ballet for select shows. It’s a full-circle moment, as she trained at the Milwaukee Ballet School and Academy from 2002 to 2013.
The other ballerina dancing the role of Aurora is Marie Harrison-Collins, a leading artist with the Milwaukee Ballet. She’s no stranger to being a princess. She performed as Cinderella in Milwaukee Ballet’s production last spring.
In addition to his 45 dancers on stage, Pink said he hopes audiences enjoy the 55 musicians who play live during the performance. The Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra is tasked with one of Pink’s other favorite parts of the ballet: The music.
Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty” uses a lot of Tchaikovsky’s music from the ballet, but at different points in the story. Pink said the music is “exquisitely beautiful” and add so much to each moment of the show.
“As always, I will be proud of how our artists rise to the challenges at all levels…” Pink noted. “I’m always be proud with how hard everybody works and how they come together to bring a world-class performance onto the stage ... It just doesn’t get any better. That’s the ultimate.”
"Sleeping Beauty" runs at the Marcus Performing Arts Center from April 11 to 13. Get ticket information, here.
Aly Prouty - Digital Media Producer
Aly Prouty is a digital producer for Spectrum News 1 Wisconsin, Ohio and Kentucky. An award-winning, multimedia journalist, she holds an honors B.A. in journalism from Marquette University and an M.A. in journalism and media studies from The University of Alabama.
