The Sleeping Beauty

You don't go to see The Sleeping Beauty by the Australian Ballet if you're expecting to see transgressive avant-garde dance. You go with your conservative grandma or your small daughter (one who is capable of sitting still for three hours). You go to be wowed by the staging and the costumes by Gabriela Tylesova — they're breathtaking, and to see a fine piece of classic ballet performed by the best of the business, as led by Lana Jones as Princess Aurora and Amber Scott as the Lilac Fairy. It's the Year Of Beauty for the Australian Ballet, and this is the capstone, a lavish work.

It's a flawless production, gorgeously put together by Australian Ballet Artistic Director David McAllister, with choreography by Marius Petipa. We're especially enthralled by Act II when Prince Désiré comes into play, brought to life by Kevin Jackson, but the high points are the lavish group dances set in the palace, and opening and closing the production. There are impressive solos from the graceful, pirouetting Jones, Jackson and Scott, as well as from Chengwu Guo and Ako Kondo as Bluebird and Princess Florine. Absolutely stunning.