This sequence, called the “Rose Adagio”, is one of the most difficult moves in all of ballet. It hurt my feet to even just watch the entire performance, especially during Act I when the main character, Aurora (identified as such only by the program), stands unsupported with one leg in the air and the other en pointe for five minutes or so, waiting for different characters to spin her around. However, those elements in it as themselves were captivating. What was supposed to be a cohesive story looked to me like an endless swirl of shimmery costumes, dancing, and elaborate set changes that signaled absolutely no narrative to me.

When I somewhat naïvely found out that the entire ballet has no dialogue and was three hours long, I was worried that I would be bored and confused the whole time. I went to see The Sleeping Beauty in the Royal Opera House, a three-hour ballet comprised of four parts: a prologue and three acts, which is playing until mid-April. It seems almost to blend in with the restaurants and shops around it, which is why it is so surprising when you walk through the revolving doorway into a cool, serene lobby, and then into the gilded theater surrounded by 2,256 reverently hushed people and leave those streets, and real life, behind.

The Royal Opera House’s tall facade stands unimposing amongst the narrow bustling streets of Covent Garden.

Sleeping beauty royal opera house