‘Sleeping Beauty’ in Cebu
Once upon a time, in a kingdom far from the City, a beautiful maiden slept endlessly until a prince came to rescue her from her slumber. This is the tale of Princess Aurora, most widely known as the Sleeping Beauty. This story has been adapted and rewritten over hundreds of times that the original story remains unadapted.
In the spirit of Christmas, the Cebu Centre for Dance (CCD) wishes to relay to viewers the classical version of the story of Aurora for its grand recital on Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. and Dec. 4 at 4 p.m. CCD students, along with guest artists from ACTS Manila Company, will dance The Sleeping Beauty. The ballet’s musical score will be created by master Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky paired with the choreography of master Marius Petipa.
Dancing in the role of Aurora will be Sabrina Ruth Bogard, who also danced the role of the Swan Princess in CCD’s grand recital last year in The Nutcracker.
“It’s a big honor for me to play Aurora, the lead role. At first, I never thought I could do it because Aurora appears in almost every act of the ballet. So I never thought I have the stamina to push through and dance through almost every act. It’s very tiring. In act one, I have to dance with four guys. I have to balance one by one on each guy and it really drains me a lot, but the feeling of playing the lead role and playing this beautiful and wonderful part is an honor and I will forever be indebted to my teachers and my coaches,” said Bogard. Having started dancing ballet as early as two years old, Bogard has been garnering awards for the center and had just recently placed third overall in the Philippine Dance Cup Competition - Female Category, Senior Classical Solo Division held at De La Salle College of St. Benilde, Manila last July. “We’re very proud of her. Cebu is very proud of her because she just won last July in a national competition representing Cebu and CCD. There was no first place winner. The second place winner was from ACTS Manila and incidentally, it is the school where our guest artists are coming from,” said Johanna Mangubat, CCD’s senior faculty member and president of the board.
To complete the story of Aurora, the evil witch must also be there because there is no protagonist if there’s no antagonist. Playing the role of the evil fairy Carabosse, most widely known as Maleficent, will be Penelop Ong, alternated by Kristin Aldana-Lerin.
Carabosse comes in during the birthday of Aurora casting a spell on her, which she will be able to receive when she turns 16. The spell causes her to fall into a death-like sleep, only to be magically awakened by her true love’s kiss.
During the press conference, Lerin confessed that she’s not used to having the role of an evil witch.
“It’s very difficult. Naturally, I am not so comfortable playing the antagonist. It’s a bit of a challenge, but as a ballerina, you must overcome everything,” said Lerin.
The grand recital will be held in SM City Cebu Cinema 1 on Dec. 3 and 4.