Sleeping Beauty [VHS]
Tchaikovsky's beloved ballet is given a command performance by the Kirov Ballet from the Maryinsky Theater in St. Petersburg.  The Sleeping Beauty is a true Kirov dance extravaganza, featuring famed Kirov stars Altynai Asylmuratova as Princess Aurora and Konstatin Zaklinsky as Prince Florimund.  Based on Perrault's fairy tale, this is considered the pinnacle of 19th century Tsarist Russian culture.  This ballet contains some of the perioe's most important choreographic ideas including Petipa's variations for the fairies in the prologue, the rose adagio for Aurora and the four princes, the pas de deux of Princess Florine and the Bluebird, and the grand pas de deux in the finale.  The thrilling Kirov Sleeping Beauty will delight dance lovers and will be regarded as one of the great full productions of this beloved ballet in our time.