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Prologue, The Christening
Photo credit: Rosalie O'Connor
King Florestan and his Queen have invited all the Fairies to the christening of the infant Princess Aurora.
Act I of The Sleeping Beauty
Photo credit: Rosalie O'Connor
Erica Cornejo as Carabosse in Act I of The Sleeping Beauty
Photo credit: Rosalie O'ConnorUnfortunately, the Fairy Carabosse has been forgotten, for she has not been seen for a long time. Nevertheless she arrives, vastly insulted, as the other Fairies are bestowing their magic gifts. She gives a spindle and announces that one day Aurora shall prick her finger with it and die. Happily, the Lilac Fairy still has her own gift to bestow, and she confounds Carabosse by vowing that Aurora shall not die but will instead fall into a deep sleep, from which she will be awakened after a hundred years by a Prince’s kiss.
It is Princess Aurora’s sixteenth birthday, and four Princes have come to court her. During the festivities a strange woman approaches with something Aurora has never seen before—a spindle. In her fascination she pricks her finger, and the suitors rush to her aid. The old woman throws back her cloak, revealing she is Carabosse, and vanishes. The Lilac Fairy appears to fulfill her promise. She casts a spell of sleep over the castle and commands a forest to grow and conceal the palace.
THEA SINGER, THE BOSTON GLOBE
Misa Kuranaga and Jeffrey Cirio in Act III of The Sleeping Beauty
Photo credit: Rosalie O'Connor
One hundred years later, the young Prince Desire is hunting in this forest with his court. When a stag is sighted, the Prince’s companions join the chase, but Desire remains behind, dreaming of an ideal love. The Lilac Fairy appears and shows him a vision of Aurora; she next summons the vision to dance with Desire. He implores the Lilac Fairy to lead him to Aurora, and the Lilac Fairy takes him on a journey to the overgrown and wooded palace where Aurora sleeps. They encounter Carabosse outside the palace gates and the Lilac Fairy banishes her from the kingdom. Desire finds the Sleeping Beauty and wakes her with a kiss. The magic spell is broken.
Fairy-tale characters come to the wedding celebrations of the Prince and Aurora, and everyone joins in a dance. In an apotheosis, the Lilac Fairy blesses the marriage.
