Matthew Bourne’s SLEEPING BEAUTY sees the choreographer return to the music of Tchaikovsky to complete the trio of the composer’s ballet masterworks that started in 1992 with Nutcracker! and, most famously, in 1995, with the international hit Swan Lake. Bourne takes this date as his starting point, setting the Christening of Aurora, the story’s heroine, in the year of the ballets first performance; the height of the Fin de siècle period when fairies, vampires and decadent opulence fed the gothic imagination. As Aurora grows into a young woman, we move forwards in time to the more rigid, uptight Edwardian era; a mythical golden age of long Summer afternoons, croquet on the lawn and new dance crazes. Years later, awakening from her century long slumber, Aurora finds herself in the modern day; a world more mysterious and wonderful than any Fairy story!

Quoted by The Spectator as ‘Tchaikovsky’s intoxicating music com[ing] magically to life through Bourne’s theatrical inventiveness and richly textured choreography’, Matthew Bourne’s interpretations have led to awards such as the Manchester Theatre Awards 2013 ‘Best Dance Production’ and nominations for the Olivier Awards ‘Outstanding Achievement in Dance 2013’ and the National Dance Awards ‘Outstanding Company 2013’. The product also includes bonus documentary: “Imagine – A Beauty is Born: Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty”.