Small Troupe Casts Big Shadow With Dazzling ‘Sleeping Beauty’

“The Sleeping Beauty” staged by Western Ballet Theater, Friday, April 30, Spokane Opera House

Full-length story ballets such as “The Nutcracker” and “The Sleeping Beauty” pose a number of challenges for small, touring dance companies. The sets must be large and complex enough to be grand backdrops for the ballet. Most story ballets require a sizable company of professional dancers. And almost all are supplemented with local student dancers.

Western Ballet Theater met all these challenges with aplomb in its staging of “The Sleeping Beauty” Friday night at the Opera House. The sets were sufficiently grand to provide elegant and appropriate settings for this fairy tale. The costumes, created by Amy Panganiban and Sharla MacAndrew, were sumptuous and creative and engaging; they are one of this ballet company’s strengths. Especially notable were the costumes of the wicked Fairy Carabosse and her pages, which, both evil and exotic, would have also been apropos to a sci-fi story.

But even though the trappings of sets, costumes, lighting and such were impressive, the success of a ballet production still comes down to the dancing. On this front, Western Ballet Theater came through on a level that is astonishing, considering this is a relatively small community-based troupe (the company is based in both Eugene, Ore., and Boise).

The lead role in “Sleeping Beauty,” Princess Aurora, requires both excellent technique and stamina since the dancer must be on stage through nearly three-quarters of the more than two-hour production. Jennifer Martin, who danced Princess Aurora, clearly was up to the requirement. Nary a misstep was evident and she danced as strongly in the last scene as she had performed an hour and a half earlier.

While all of this would in itself have made for a pleasant evening of well-danced classical ballet, the staging of this production bounced it to a level that at times took my breath away. It was that good. Artistic director Toni Pimble clearly understands the importance of each element of a ballet - sets, costumes, adept dancing, music - and yet does not allow any of these to overshadow the others. Each element was strong in detail, sophistication and execution and she brought them together in a production that rewarded the audience on many fronts.

Pimble reached into the modern dance repertoire and even to Broadway for some dance movements; the audience simply loved the White Cat and Puss in Boots, which were very “Cats”-like, in the final scene.

This production of “The Sleeping Beauty” is ambitious beyond the scope of this modestly sized company, which is slated to return in the fall. If this is an example of the high quality of dance productions this troupe has to offer, I can’t wait to see what Pimble has to offer us from the rest of her repertoire.