Matthew Bourne’s time-travelling take on Sleeping Beauty stops at The Lowry for its North West première from November 13-17.
The tale of the girl cursed to sleep for a century was turned into a legendary ballet by Tchaikovsky and choreographer Marius Petipa, in 1890. Bourne takes this date as his starting point, setting the Christening of Aurora, the story’s heroine, in the year of the ballet’s first performance; the height of the fin-de-siecle period when fairies, vampires and decadent opulence fed the gothic imagination.
Creating the central role of Aurora in this new production are Hannah Vassallo and Ashley Shaw. Hannah co-created the role of Kim in New Adventures’ Edward Scissorhands, and has played leading roles in The Car Man, Nutcracker! and Play Without Words. She also played Baby in the West End production of Dirty Dancing for over two years.
Ashley made her debut with New Adventures in Swan Lake in 2009 and has since played the title role in Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella and Sugar in Nutcracker!.