Boston Ballet's 'Sleeping Beauty' a physically daunting task for performers
BOSTON – A ballerina's spins and leaps always wow the crowd during a Boston Ballet performance of "Sleeping Beauty." But it's even more challenging for a dancer to simply stand still.
The Rose Adagio is known as one of the most difficult sequences in all of ballet.
The company's rehearsal director Tainia Morales has spent weeks with the dancers, working on every element.
It requires Aurora to balance en pointe, as she is passed from prince to prince.
"We start building the adagio slowly. So the legs get used to handle the technique," Morales said.
"It has to be precise. It has to be clean. Every flaw can be seen if it's not to the point if it's not clean and done well," Soloist Chisako Oga, one of four dancers who will perform the role during the ballet's run at the Citizen's Bank Opera House, told WBZ-TV.
Oga said that outside of ballet class, she's been doing a lot of Pilates and strengthening work to make sure she can work her muscles the way she needs to in order to perform the sequence.
And Morales reminds us, the technical aspect is only part of the performance, as the dancers have to add emotion to the story as well.
Oga said while it's a lot of pressure, it's also exciting and she's looking forward to her Aurora debut.
Sleeping Beauty opens on May 25 and runs through June 4.