And for a longer look at that faultless technique … here’s Lucinda dancing the La Favorita pas de deux.

Performing the title role of Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty is a mammoth one. It commands as much stamina as a three-hour marathon and the graceful disposition to pass for a royal princess. It’s a heady balance of skill that can only be achieved by few. In 2005, when Stanton Welch was commissioned to restage the classic The Sleeping Beauty, he choreographed the leading role of Aurora on Principal Lucinda Dunn . In the 19 years that Lucinda has been with The Australian Ballet she admits that no other role has been more demanding, or rewarding.

“The Sleeping Beauty is one of the most challenging ballets I’ve ever done, and probably will ever do. It’s technically and physically demanding and what you have to do in a tutu is simply hard. Any ballerina will tell you that it’s just so challenging; it’s really hard on your body stamina-wise – it’s three acts! You’re in a tutu so you are very exposed and your classical technique is on show. The lines and the shapes have to be just right and then there’s your characterisation on top of that … It’s a combination of things but basically it’s just a really big, scary ballet.”

Lucinda might feel like The Sleeping Beauty is a ‘big, scary ballet’ but her performance is seemingly effortless. In 2005 The Age described Lucinda’s Aurora as: “adolescent in her characterisation and in unstressed command of the fiendish balances and other tricks demanded by the title role”

The Sleeping Beauty runs in Melbourne from 9 – 19 September,  and from Sydney 4 – 23 December

Damien Welch and Lucinda Dunn in The Sleeping Beauty Photography Jim McFarlane

The Sleeping Beauty

The brain behind the Ballets Russes, Sergei Diaghilev, was 18 years old when he saw his first ballet performance. It was Petipa’s The Sleeping Beauty. His love for the ballet was unwavering and years later – in 1921 – Diaghilev rounded up his creative legion to stage the ballet himself. But Diaghilev’s interpretation was not just an homage, it was the most influential disaster in ballet history.

Diaghilev renamed the ballet to The Sleeping Princess. Why? “Because I have no beauties!” he declared. An initial 10,000 pounds from an investor backed Diaghilev, but this didn’t stop him from constantly borrowing funds to pay for the Bakst-designed set, painters, courtiers, tailors, embroidered fabrics and fur.  Further costs went into finding the best Aurora, too. No dancer could survive a week of dancing the role, given how physically punishing it was. He addressed the problem by hiring multiple ballerinas to play Princess Aurora, which led to dancer-rivalry and inconsistency between performances. One dancer – who was then age 46 and already retired – threatened to kill herself if Diaghilev kept her to her contract. Diaghilev ignored her relentless phone calls through the night and she went on to perform anyway.

At one stage Diaghilev announced: “I have been 15 years too early with this ballet”. But in the end, Diaghilev’s The Sleeping Princess was a financial success after all. It was an artistic triumph, too, inspiring Aurora – the most classical heroine from the old repertory – to be taken on by the most courageous ballerinas in history. On The Sleeping Beauty, Frederick Ashton said: “Petipa’s ballets will always be the crowning jewels in any company that possesses them, and they should be preserved with a reverence due to their stature, and for the edification of future generations.”

Stanton Welch’s production of The Sleeping Beauty returns to The Australian Ballet’s stage soon, playing in Melbourne from 9 – 19 September and Sydney from 4 – 23 December

When a young girl begins ballet classes, her birthday presents usually include jewellery boxes, and necklaces featuring ballerinas wearing pastel pink tutus and giant sparkling tiaras.

Jewellery has always been a part of ballet. Although its creation and design have evolved to complement the evolution of the art itself, flowers and drop earrings can be seen in the paintings that mark the inception of ballet.

Jewellery is not only worn for beauty; it helps create instantly recognisable characters, particularly among the classics. In modern ballet, the designer may employ jewellery to accentuate parts of the body. However excess is not usually a fixture in contemporary ballet. Perhaps modern flavours mimic our post-modern appreciation for modest aesthetics.

In contrast, Versace created his fashion and theatre costuming with the mantra ‘excess is a necessity’. And he was not the only male to be distracted by shiny things. In 1967, Balanchine choreographed Jewels; a ballet made of three parts: Emeralds, Rubies and Diamonds. After walking past the Van Cleef & Arpels salon in Manhattan, Balanchine was taken by the beauty of the jewels and immediately spoke with Claude Arpels concerning a jewel inspired ballet. Dancer Wendy Whelan from New York City Ballet remembers, “When you put on a Diamonds sort of costume, you become a different person. I think that a costume like Diamonds, with all those jewels that radiate from your chest, helps you to radiate from your chest as a dancer.”

Of course, real diamonds and rubies are not worn on stage. Costume jewellery is made of a long and varying list of materials; crystal and glass beads, stones, braid, copper covered silver wire, sequins and metal shapes to name a small few. And safety is crucial. Strings of beads are knotted between each bead, necklaces are hooked onto costumes and tiaras have pinning wires and tie tapes to ensure they remain on the dancer. Comfort is also considered in the design process.

Vicki Car, head of millinery, says men too can sport jewellery: “In Semele, the dancer playing Zeus wore lycra cuffs on his wrists that looked as if they were made of metal. Designers like Kristian Fredrikson would happily put boys in headdresses and necklaces, such as the Lilac Cavaliers in The Sleeping Beauty we are about to put on.”

In December, the Australian Ballet’s production of The Sleeping Beauty will feature jewellery worn by almost every character. The cleaning and restoration of these pieces is underway.

Marissa Shirbin was a dancer, is now a romancer and an editorial assistant at Right Angle publishing

Artists of The Australian Ballet in Stanton Welch’s The Sleeping Beauty. Photography Jim McFarlane