Word: aurora
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...scenery, classic choreography and spirited execution of movement, The Sleeping Beauty captured the unique union of music and magic necessary for the translation of fairy tale into ballet. Based on Charles Perrault's "La Belle au Bois Dormant" from Mother Goose, The Sleeping Beauty tells the story of Princess Aurora, cursed by the evil Carabosse to sleep one hundred years until kissed by a handsome prince. The strength of the ballet lies in the noble and soaring melodies of the music, composed by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. With choreography by Marius Petipa, The Sleeping Beauty received its first performance...
Performed in three acts, The Sleeping Beauty opens with a court scene reminiscent of the history of ballet itself. In the palace of King Florestan XIV, fairy upon fairy dance blessings on the new born Princes Aurora. With a stage full of court guests, each fairy dancer bows to the audience as if the audience was a part of the court itself. The history of ballet centers around court culture but the bows in this opening act feel somewhat jarring to the audience--its self-awareness adds a layer of artificiality to the ballet, for the audience witnesses the performance...
...Lilac Fairy and the Princess' apparition, in a female-female pairing unusual for classical ballet, dance a beautiful pas de deux. Prince Desire tries to reach the apparition but the Lilac Fairy does not let him, creating a chase scene. Had this tension continued, the final union of Aurora with Desire would have been climactic and dramatic, but rather, the Prince dances with the apparition after a brief build up in unrealistic and choreographically uninspired short snips. Finally, the Lilac Fairy takes the Prince to the castle on a corny and overdone stage boat--a true low point...
...third act, probably unnecessary in this two hour and forty minute production with two intermissions, celebrates Princess Aurora and Prince Desire's wedding festivities. Like Act One, Act Three takes place in the performance space at the palace with various fairies and guests dancing for the court. These guests include Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, and Puss `n' Boots and the White Cat from other fairy tales in a decision that seems out of context, employed for the sole purpose of filling out Tchaikovsky's score. A highlight of the final act is the beautiful pas de deux...
...could not love Free Willy, aside from a grouchy movie critic? Perhaps the people at Sea World, the chain of popular marine parks in San Diego; Orlando, Florida; San Antonio, Texas; and Aurora, Ohio. Its curators are steamed at the film's depiction of an animal theme park as an inhumane cesspool. "The movie is not a fair portrayal of whales in captivity," argues Jim Antrim, general curator at Sea World in San Diego. "The trainer seems to be feeding the animal an inferior type of fish and often walks by the animal in an uninterested manner." Sea World execs...