Universal Ballet to perform ‘Sleeping Beauty‘
By Do Je-hae
Tchaikovsky’s fantastical music, Marius Petipa’s ingenious choreography and Universal Ballet Company (UBC)’s artistic ability will come together to present the beautiful fairy tale, “The Sleeping Beauty.”
The UBC will be performing “The Sleeping Beauty” at the Grand Theater, Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, from Thursday through Sunday, for the first time in six years.
“Each of the five performances in this season of Sleeping Beauty will feature a different cast of Universal Ballet lead dancers in the roles of Aurora and Desire,” UBC official Kim Sei-young said.
On April 5, the charisma and beauty of Kang Ye-na and Rhee Hyon-jun, both Universal Ballet Principal Dancers, will open the season.
The Friday performance will feature virtuosic technicians Kim Nae-un, recently promoted to senior soloist, and Russian Konstantin Novoselov, who has just been promoted to principal dancer for the 2012 season.
The cast for the Saturday Matinee on April 7 includes two quintessential dreamy romantic dancers, perfect for the story of first young love, Soloist Kim Chae-lee and newly promoted principal Lee Seung-hyun. Lee Seung-hyun has also been causing quite a stir in Japan recently as the “Korean Wave” continues to attract the attention of many Japanese fans.
In the evening performance on Saturday, the public can enjoy two dancers who are like hidden jewels, meeting for the first time on stage, Son You-hee, senior soloist, and Lee Dong-tak, who joined Universal Ballet in 2010, and was recently promoted to soloist. The final performance on Sunday April 8 will be danced by Universal Ballet’s featured principal duo, Hwang Hye-min and Ohm Jae-yong, who have danced together for more than 10 years, covering every ballet in the company’s repertory.
Pinnacle of classical ballet
The ballet, based on Charles Perrault’s beautiful tale, “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood,” is a tale beloved all around the world. Composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky and choreographer Marius Petipa transformed the story into a ballet, which premiered at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1890. Tchaikovsky and Petipa went on to create two more ballets together, “The Swan Lake,” and “The Nutcracker,” which along with “The Sleeping Beauty” are accepted among ballet’s greatest masterpieces.
“The Sleeping Beauty,” in particular, with its rigorous and precise choreography, is widely known as the “textbook of classical ballet,” and the “model of academic ballet.” Today, there are many versions of The Sleeping Beauty ranging from classical to contemporary.
UBC General Director Julia H. Moon and principal dancer Kang Ye-na will give a pre-curtain talk on “How to enjoy The Sleeping Beauty.”
Because ballet is a relatively new art form to Korea, Universal Ballet has been offering pre-curtain commentaries at the start of each Seoul performance since 2006, so the audience can better understand and enjoy the performance. These talks have proved very popular with the company’s fans in Seoul. Having both danced the role of Aurora, Julia Moon and Kang have a lot of valuable insight that help the performances come alive.