Pacific Northwest Ballet’s “The Sleeping Beauty”

Originally published on social media on February 10th, 2025

The Pacific Northwest Ballet has done it again — The Sleeping Beauty was entirely original, enchanting, and spectacular!

Much of the talk surrounding this production was about the bold costumes design by Paul Tazewell. Does his name sound familiar? If you’ve been keeping up with Oscar nominations, you’ll recognize that Tazewell is currently nominated for Best Costume Design for the film Wicked. The costumes for this ballet was inspired by the Indigenous tribes whose land we reside on in Washington State.

Speaking of the land where we reside, PNB put an original twist on Sleeping Beauty by having it take place in the Pacific Northwest. The set design shared the same beauty as many of the forests near us, and the audience even got to explore that forest at some points during the show. All I can say is that they found a way to make their screen seem like a real life forest. Altogether, this reminded me that fairy tales can exist anywhere including our Washington home.

As usual, the dancers at the PNB were extraordinarily talented and beautiful in their craft. Their orchestra played Tchaikovsky’s score with finesse and just a sprinkle of magic. Together, both dance company and orchestra created a wonderful performance that peaked in its third act.

The third act was full of yearning — Prince Désiré learned about the existence of Sleeping Princess Aurora thanks to the Lilac fairy, and his entire being emanated yearning. I think that’s why I love ballet, classical music, and romance so much — the yearning…it is so romantic.

I’m so grateful for performances like these, and Dads like mine who make it possible for my sister and I to attend. This is my last performance as a 26 year old, and I can’t wait to see what 27 holds.

*since this performance was not held in Thurston County, I am not featuring it in my column. However, I love to review all performances and am glad to share this one on social media.