La Belle Maillot
Katrin Schrader ©AB
La Belle Jean-Christophe Maillot
Marianna Barabas & Alvaro Prieto ©AB
La Belle Jean-Christophe Maillot
Liisa Hämäläinen & Alexis Oliveira ©AB
La Belle Jean-Christophe Maillot
April Ball ©AB
La Belle Jean-Christophe Maillot
©Alice Blangero
La Belle Jean-Christophe Maillot
©Alice Blangero
La Belle Jean-Christophe Maillot
©Alice Blangero
La Belle Jean-Christophe Maillot
Francesco Mariottini & Alexis Oliveira ©AB
0108
Katrin Schrader ©AB
Marianna Barabas & Alvaro Prieto ©AB
Liisa Hämäläinen & Alexis Oliveira ©AB
April Ball ©AB
©Alice Blangero
©Alice Blangero
©Alice Blangero
Francesco Mariottini & Alexis Oliveira ©AB

La Belle

J-Ch. Maillot

- The Sleeping Beauty -

Jean-Christophe Maillot brings us an aesthetically-pleasing and ferocious psychoanalytical interpretation of this famous fairy-tale, tapping into our childhood memories, fears and desires. The feats that mark Sleeping Beauty's story mirror the rites each woman must go through throughout her life. Perrault understood this only too well, and in turn, the choreographer has managed to break through the sugar-coated casing Disney previously used in handling the tale.

The lesser-known second half of Perrault’s story is brought to the fore, in which Sleeping Beauty awakens from her slumber and her marriage to the Prince leads on to further exploits. The second part of the fairy-tale is dark and terrifying: now Queen, the Princess and her children are threatened by her Wicked Step-Mother, the Ogress Maleficent.

Maleficent is a symbol of pure evil, and is one of the most emblematic characters of Jean-Christophe Maillot's repertoire, the perfect embodiment of the sheer terror contained within this story. "Maleficent is like a magnet, sucking in all of our fears and taboos. I created an androgynous, ambiguous being that is far from a straightforward symbol, and that might be a potential partner for Sleeping Beauty. Although the character embodies evil, evil is nevertheless difficult to define. My ballets always reject Manichaeism, the concept of evil versus good."

« The choreography is imbued with real theatricality, and the characters are sharply defined.» DANCING TIMES (jan. 2017)

« Maillot has succeeded in giving perhaps the most authentic retelling of Perrault’s story in dance» DANCETABS (jan. 2017)

« Light years away from the contemporary trash trend, Maillot has created a poetic and luminous universe that prolongs the myth and renders it timeless, and hence up-to-date. When dance is raised to such heights, it hits the heart ». CLASSICA (2007)


Choreography: Jean-Christophe Maillot
Music: Piotr Ilitch Tchaïkovski
Scenography: Ernest Pignon-Ernest
Costumes: Philippe Guillotel
Lighting: Dominique Drillot
Duration: 1h50

With the participation of the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Nicolas Brochot

Premiere held on December 27th 2001, Grimaldi Forum Monaco