Sleeping Beauty, May 5, 2007, Fox Theatre

It's been over a month since I saw this performance, so my memory of it has become somewhat sketchy; however, here's what stuck with me. This was a competent production by Atlanta Ballet. The dancing was solid but lacked dazzle. Naomi-Jane Dixon was sweet as Aurora, and was supported ably by her prince, Tamila. Her balances in the Rose adagio were evanescent, and, though no fault of her own, her arms just aren't long enough to form the grand poses required by this role. Of the fairies, two stood out: Kelsey Yip as Violente (the "finger fairy," as my mom and I call it), and apprentice Rachel Van Buskirk as one of the (pleasantly) highest-strung Canari's I've seen. Also nice were Jacob Bush, Nadia Mara, Christine Necessary, and Joshua Reynolds, listed as Gems (Silver, Gold, and Sapphire) rather than fairies and performing a dual pas de deux.

A complaint about the music: Atlanta Ballet can't afford to hire live musicians and so uses recorded music for most of their performances. I don't have a problem with this; it's not ideal, but it's reality for many companies. But what tone-deaf (style-deaf?) person picked the soundtrack? The adagio of the wedding pas de deux between Aurora and her prince is accented by typical Tchaikovsky runs and add a graceful counterpoint. Unless, that is, they are performed by squirrels running across a piano, jarring one out of the lovely reverie that is the music. I mean, come on!