1. Sleeping Beauty • We read: Grimm’s tale Brier Rose (original story 1800’s) • We watched: Disney’s Sleeping Beauty • We watched: Kirov Ballet Sleeping Beauty based on the Charles Perrault story in 1697. The Grimm Brothers changed the story from Perrault’s. Was his too grim(m)?

2. Comparison Brier Rose Kirov Ballet Frog tells queen wish is fulfilled to have a child 13 wise women – 11 give miraculous gifts to baby, 13th not invited but comes to give curse of pricking/death. 12th softens it to sleep. 100 yrs. Age 15 Opens with birth and celebration. 6 wise fairies invited, 5 give gifts, 7th is evil, 6th softens We are unsure how she will prick her finger, unless we read ballet synopsis Age: teen, as we will see.

3. Original story and ballet cont. Brier Rose Kirov Ballet She never leaves palace and King has all spindles burned. Left alone, wanders castle, meets old woman in tower. She pricks her finger and falls asleep in the tower. The kingdom goes to sleep; brier hedge grows around the castle. No one could break through. Each act labeled: The Spell, The Vision and The Awakening, and The Wedding. Brier Rose introduced at Court. Dances and is offered a bouquet by an old woman, the witch. Pricks finger on poison pin or spindle and falls asleep.

4. Disney’s Sleeping Beauty You do the comparison with the original story and the ballet, both of which came first. • Music of Peter Tchaikovsky is used as background with words put to Sleeping Beauty Waltz. This draws children in, something they can relate to. • 3 good fairies Flora, Fauna, Merryweather and Maleficent, evil. • Spells are the same: 2 good, 1 evil and 1 to soften

5. Disney cont. • After the initial scene the 3 good fairies become her guardians in the woodcutters cottage. • The live as humans for 16 years. Fairies used as comic relief for children and to soften the evil. • Maleficent is evil and scary. • Wizard of Oz overtones, black crow is like a winged monkey.

6. Contains Disney’s famous talking animals. • Aurora falls for an unknown man in the forest. • He comes to cottage to meet her she has been whisked away by evil witch. Witch imprisons him. • Fairies help him escape, but Aurora pricks finger on spindle in tower. • Fight to the death through brier hedge put up by witch by Prince Steffan.

7. She turns into dragon and is defeated. • We have happily ever after. • Aurora’s has only been asleep a day. Think: what are the differences in the three? why are the differences there? what is the audience they are trying to reach?

8. Themes • Themes: -Love conquers all -triumph of good over evil - - A theme should be universal to have the piece of art be long lasting. A moral, a lesson learned.

9. The altering of the stories The Grimm Brothers wanted to alter the tales told to them to get a pure form of a literary work. • Endeavor to make tales stylistically smoother • Concern for clear sequential structure • Desire to make stories more lively and pictorial by adding adjectives, old proverbs and direct dialogue. • Reinforcement of motives for action in the plot • Infusion of psychological motifs (Freud’s influence) • Eliminate elements that might detract from rustic tone. • They had to appeal to the growing middle class in the 1800’s

10. If the theme is universal then the story can be modified, modernized, told from a different point of view, etc. It is all in the hands of the interpreter. • Director • Choreographer • Writer

11. Questions • Why is the age of the girl important? look at Juliet look at the age of consent and why girls married then • Who was the head of the house? • Are those themes relevant any more? Or are those lines blurred? • Do we believe in love at first sight? Someday my prince will come? Hope? • If you modernized it what would be your themes? What kind of story would you tell?