The Sleeping Beauty

At the end of each year, the Australian Ballet rests its commitment to the groundbreaking and the contemporary, and visits the comforts of festive fantasy. Even for a devotee of the abstract in dance such as myself, by December I ache to be lost in snow falling from the glittering heavens of the Sydney Opera House ceiling. This year's choice for an end of year spectacular is The Sleeping Beauty, and it couldn't be more perfect for the season.

Choreographed in 2005 by Stanton Welch after the original 1890 work of Marius Pepita, this production of The Sleeping Beauty is as enchanting as one could hope. A narrative piece, this ballet involves fairies, spells, elves, trolls and at the heart of it all, a princess. A battle wages between the winter fairy Carabosse accompanied by her motley tribe of ne'er-do-wells and the Lilac Fairy with her magical sisters of the elements to bequeath the role of Herald of Spring on the newborn Princess Aurora. Hilarity does not ensue. On the occasion of Aurora's sixteenth birthday, Carabosse tempts the princess with the black rose whose thorns give the beauty her titular sleep. Until her true love manages to plant her a kiss, winter shall reign forevermore.

Carabosse and her entourage of owls and elves almost steal the show, with her bubbling cauldron and stunning sequinned cape that serves to hide her true identity and sweep dramatically across the length of the stage, the audience gasping all the while. The dancer's icy splendour and powerful movements make it difficult to root for the reemergence of spring. Aurora, the sole dancer clothed in a tutu for the entire production, portrayed by delightful senior artist Amber Scott in the performance I saw, dances en pointe more often than not. High up on jaw-dropping tippy-toe, she rules the stage with her lithe grace even in sleep, occasionally shown up by the humorous palace cats, who roll and loll and preen, quietly scene stealing.

The set and costumes, designed by the famed Kristian Fredrikson, are inspired by Thai and Bollywood cinema aesthetics, combined with elements of the noble Russian setting of the initial ballet. Colourful as Christmas wrapping paper, they sit well with the occasionally overwhelming power of the original Tchaikovsy score. A series of painted scrims are used to great effect, displaying simultaneous action. Confusingly, however, the 'good' fairies are clothed in muted tones that are sometimes hard to distinguish against the white of the 'wicked'. It's a small gripe in an otherwise magical production.

The final ballet of 2009, The Sleeping Beauty marks a welcome end to a troubling year in history; for a few hours at least, one can believe in the phrase "happily ever after."