Birmingham Royal Ballet’s dazzling production of The Sleeping Beauty returns to The Lowry, Manchester from Wednesday 28th February to Saturday 3rd March 2018.
The Sleeping Beauty is one of the grandest ballets ever created, with a classical score by Tchaikovsky and original choreography by Marius Petipa. The opulent world of Imperial Russian ballet, with its marvellous mixture of virtuoso dance, fairy tale characters and dazzling spectacle, has delighted audiences for over a hundred years. Sir Peter Wright’s 1984 production for Birmingham Royal Ballet, with designs by Philip Prowse, is acclaimed as one of the best in the world.
With a shimmering palette of blush pink and gold, the wardrobe for The Sleeping Beauty is the largest and most complex of any ballet in Birmingham Royal Ballet’s repertory. The expert costume and wig departments begin work as soon as the ballet is announced, preparing themselves for months of repairing and renovating original costumes, dressing wigs and ponytails, fitting new costumes on dancers and ensuring every fine detail will be ready for the opening night of The Sleeping Beauty.
The Sleeping Beauty is Birmingham Royal Ballet’s biggest production in terms of costumes and wigs, and the only which requires an entire articulated lorry just for wardrobe. There are 66 wigs, 31 ponytails and 1 beard in The Sleeping Beauty, all prepared and applied by a dedicated wig department. There are 40 rails of costumes and 17 wicker skips in The Sleeping Beauty wardrobe – including 4 rails of Princess Aurora tutus alone. The dancer playing Princess Aurora wears 3 tutus throughout the ballet. With 9 ballerinas cast in the lead role, each with their own complete set of costumes, the wardrobe team must prepare 27 Aurora tutus. It takes approximately 1 week to make a tutu base, or skirt, and about 4 weeks to complete the entire process. There are usually three fittings with the dancer who will be wearing the tutu. Many of original costumes are still in use today, including Birmingham Royal Ballet Assistant Director Marion Tait’s own Princess Aurora tutu.
The court lady dresses weigh just over 1 stone each, and the dress for the evil fairy Carabosse weighs much more. Throughout the run of The Sleeping Beauty, the costume staff can spend up to 3 hours each day repairing costumes. The wardrobe includes 8 baskets of shoes – some ballerinas will use 10 pairs of pointe shoes or more throughout the tour.
