German ballet company brings Sleeping Beauty to Beijing
德國芭蕾將睡美人帶到北京

Germany ballet company Gaertnerplatz’s version of classic fairytale Sleeping Beauty, which it brought to Beijing Sunday, includes several major changes from the original story.

"The biggest change I've made is that the baby is not from the Queen; the baby is actually from Karabosse,” said creative director Karl Alfred Scheiner.

“So she sells her baby and that's the motivation when she wants it back, the Queen pretends. Because in the original story, the Queen can't get pregnant and only one time pregnant, but I did this trick where she really cannot get pregnant so she buys a baby, hides it from the king and hides it from everyone and pretends to everyone ‘this is my baby.’"

Gaertnerplatz, the 150 year-old ballet company based in Munich, is synonymous with contemporary dance. It creates new forms of expressions on the foundations of the classical repertoire of movements, always creating and recreating new interpretations of classical dances and stories.

In this production, the princess chooses to sleep, and a large part of act two is a magnified and prolonged presentation of her dream, which gives her insight and courage to love.

Audience members of all ages filled the theater Sunday night.

"I think there's no age limit to these fairy tales. I didn't grow up with these stories as a child in Beijing, but even at this age I think there are so many lessons we can leave with," said an audience member.

Gartnerplatz is on a month-long tour of China and will be traveling to most major cities, taking the fairlytale all over the country.