Tampa ballet company trains for ‘Americanized' version of fairytale classic ‘Sleeping Beauty’

TAMPA, Fla. - Next Generation Ballet rehearsals for the delightfully menacing fairytale ‘Sleeping Beauty’ are underway at the Straz Center. 

The title ‘Sleeping Beauty’ definitely has name appeal and most people are familiar with the story, but for the students at Next Generation Ballet, this will be one of the most difficult and challenging rehearsals to pull off.

Artistic Director Phillip Neal of Next Generation ballet says, "Originally conceived in four acts and about four hours long, we have Americanized ‘Sleeping Beauty'. We truncated it, and made it two acts, but that's a lot of dancing and a lot of music to squeeze into such a short period of time. We wanted to keep the fairytale essence of the story, but also maintain the astounding level of technique that's required for this play."

The ballet ‘Sleeping Beauty’ is something the students would have seen growing up and dreamed of actually participating in one day.

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"It is a very intense ballet, especially for Aurora, the main character. She's in every act, she's on stage all the time, so the hours are long and it is very tiring but it really is so much fun," explained Veronica Jaspers who plays Aurora.

Next Generation Ballet will perform ‘Sleeping Beauty’ at the Straz Center on May 14 and 15. Learn more about the production at www.strazcenter.org.