Tchaikovsky, Peter/Nureyev: Dancer’s Dream: Sleeping Beauty (Arthaus DVD)

A documentary dedicated to the great ballet productions by
RUDOLF NUREYEV performed at the OPÉRA NATIONAL DE PARIS

Directed by FRANÇOIS ROUSSILLON
Choreography and Stage Direction by RUDOLF NUREYEV
Set Design by EZIO FRIGERIO
Costume Design by FRANCA SQUARCIAPINO
Princess Aurora ELISABETH PLATEL
Prince Charming MANUEL LEGRIS
Fairy Carabosse CLOTILDE VAYER
Fairy Lilac NATHALIE RIQUE
Music by PETER TCHAIKOVSKY
Les Etoiles, les Premiers Danseurs et le Corps de Ballet de l’Opéra
national de Paris
Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Paris conducted by VELLO PÄHN


During his time as Artistic Director Nureyev created a number of magnificent choreographies for the ballet ensemble at the Paris Opera. One of his last ballet productions, which was performed only a few months before he had to relinquish
his position as director, was Sleeping Beauty, which he choreographed in the style of Marius Petipa.

The fairy tale of the beautiful Princess Aurora, who falls into a deep sleep after the wicked fairy Carabosse has put a curse on her, from which she was awakened only a hundred years later by Prince Desiré’s kiss, became a masterwork of the classical
ballet and one of the most popular works of ballet literature. Sleeping Beauty was the brilliant result of the co-operation between the French choreographer Marius Petipa (1818-1910) and the Russian composer Peter I. Tchaikovsky (1840- 1893).

The theatre director Ivan Wsewoloschki suggested this ballet, which had its premiere in the Marinsky Theatre in St Petersburg in 1890. Not without reason is Sleeping Beauty the highlight and opus magnus of Petipa’s work.