A class act as 89 young West Berks Ballet School dancers take to the stage for Sleeping Beauty

West Berkshire Ballet School The Sleeping Beauty, at Arlington Arts, Snelsmore, on June 4 and 5. Review by Elisabeth Heron-Watson

I must confess that, as I settled into my seat at Arlington Arts on Jubilee weekend and saw the tiny little girl seated next to me in her pink party dress, I wondered if my afternoon would not be very relaxing. The lights dimmed and Tchaikovsky’s familiar overture to The Sleeping Beauty flooded the auditorium and the magic spread over us all.

Some fine acting and dancing by Nathan Denyer as the Court Chamberlin, Catalabutte, harassed and bullied by almost everyone, opened Act One, and West Berks Ballet School’s 89 dancers took obvious pride and pleasure in telling the famous fairytale.

Rhianna Bailey made a convincing wicked fairy, Carabosse, using Marius Petipa’s original mime to great effect to frighten everyone that Princess Aurora would prick her finger and die on her 18th birthday but no… the delightful Lilac fairy, elegantly danced by Emmeline Amies, explained that she would not die but fall asleep for 100 years – again using traditional mime.

The line of little pink Rose Petals, who couldn’t have been more than five or six years old, made my new friend sit on the edge of her seat and when they were joined by Lilac Blossoms, only a year or two older, she was totally captivated.

The second act brought our first glimpse of Princess Aurora. Philippa Robertson-Kellie has all the making and talent of a classical ballerina and I wondered how the famous Rose Adage would develop with three suitors drawn from the top of the school. Again, it was a faithful tribute to Petipa using many of the famous balances in the original choreography.

I very much enjoyed the new aspects cleverly woven into the version I am familiar with – the forest scene where Prince Florimund first sets eyes on Aurora and the Nuptial ballet in the third act.

It was a joy to spy at least five boys in the company and congratulations go to Amy Wilkes ably dancing Prince Florimund and Lucy Bartlett, Holly Kean and Alice Willson doubling their role as Aurora’s suitors with delicately dancing the fairy solos in Act One.

It was evident that many hours of painstaking rehearsal had gone into producing a full-length classical ballet to such a high standard – it was lovely to see so much of the original choreography faithfully reproduced and so well executed by these young dancers and how lucky they were with the beautiful costumes Linda Brown had provided – I particularly liked the famous Garland Dance.

Many congratulations to West Berks Ballet School – I think my little companion may very well ask to join you soon.