Princeton Ballet School presents “The Sleeping Beauty” at the Patriots Theater at the War Memorial in Trenton on Saturday, May 17, at 2 and 7 p.m. More than 300 students will dance in the production. The story, adapted from Charles Perrault’s “La Belle au bois dormant,” recreates Princess Aurora’s life from her birth to her wedding day. Tickets are $35.
The ballet, set to music by Tchaikovsky, was first choreographed by Marius Petipa for the Russian Imperial Ballet in 1889. This production features Petipa’s original choreography with additional choreography and staging by American Repertory Ballet’s artistic director Douglas Martin, resident choreographer Mary Barton, workshop ballet master Maria Youskevitch, and workshop juniors ballet mistress Cheryl Whitney-Marcuard.
Choreographers also include Princeton Ballet School director Mary Pat Robertson, and faculty members Laurie Abramson, Anne Gribbins, Erika Mero, and Katie Scibienski.
Plainsboro dancers include Cate Bashore, Elisa Bu Sha, Kalani Chen-Hayes, Marian Farrell, Kaila Jones, Sophia Kandalin, Darci Kardell, Teja Kondeti, Melissa Kropf, Amelia Lawrence, Ema Niculescu-Mizil, Utku Ozdemir, Avani Pachgade, Mizuki Sato, Sophia Walker, Josephine Wang, Jingwen Yuan, and Ashley Zhang.
West Windsor dancers include Anna Chun, Meg Hanson, Alice Irons, Marra Irons, Isobel Liang, Nicole Potenza, Aishani Sengupta, Emily Yeh, and Erin Yeh.
“The school has been presenting a professional-quality, full-length classical ballet in the spring since 1954,” says Martin. “It’s a great opportunity for students to work together outside of their technique classes, just like a professional company does.” Martin has also served as a faculty member at Princeton Ballet School and was the ballet master for ARB Workshop, the student performance group.
“Princeton Ballet School’s annual spring production also gives young students a unique look at the kind of work that goes into presenting a full-length ballet,” says Robertson. “We are thrilled to offer our students this learning experience and standard of quality performance.”
The Sleeping Beauty, American Repertory Ballet, Patriots Theater, War Memorial, Trenton. Saturday, May 17, 2 and 7 p.m. The casts of the matinee and evening shows are different. $35. 609-948-8400. www.arballet.org.
