Colorado Ballet Opens Season With 'Sleeping Beauty'

DENVER (CBS4) - Colorado Ballet is opening it's season with the classic fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty". With choreography by Marius Petipa, and music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, "Sleeping Beauty" offers a very pure ballet experience. Performances run from October 5^th – 14^th, at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.

LINK: For Tickets and Information about "Sleeping Beauty"

"Sleeping Beauty tells the story of Princess Aurora, who is cursed as a baby by the evil fairy, Carabosse. The curse dictates that on Aurora's 16^th birthday she will prick her finger on a spindle and die. The Lilac Fairy alters the curse so that instead of dying, Aurora will sleep for 100-years, and can only be awoken by true loves kiss.

"I've always wanted to be Aurora," said Dana Benton, one of the principle dancers at Colorado Ballet.

Benton is excited to take on one of ballet's most technically difficult roles.

"I love the Rose Adagio because that's where all the balancing happens, and it's the biggest challenge for a principal ballerina," Benton told CBS4.

In the second act, Prince Desire, also known as Prince Charming, has a vision of the sleeping princess and is immediately smitten. He and the Lilac Fairy defeat Carabosse. Prince Charming awakens Sleeping Beauty with a kiss, and the two are wed in a huge celebration in the third act.

"You do a lot of the acting and the telling of the story through your dancing,"said Yosvani Ramos, the principal dancer at the Colorado Ballet who's dancing Prince Charming.

Ramos works to bring a sense of elegance to this classic ballet role.

"Well, obviously, without the Prince, there is no kiss. Without the kiss, she doesn't wake up, so he's the one who ties together the whole end of the story," Ramos told CBS4.

The exquisite music of Tchaikovsky, lush sets and costumes, all combine for a pure ballet experience.

Performances run October 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th, as well as, October 11^th, 12^th, 13^th, and 14^th. Tickets run from $30 to $155.