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Show www.dailyutahchronicle.com A RT S 9 Friday, February 11, 2011 `Beauty' refreshed for a new audience Sofia Strempek STAFF WRITER Since 1890, "The Sleeping Beauty" has been a classical standby in the ballet tradition. Ballet West maintains the elegance of previous productions of "The Sleeping Beauty," but has made a few changes to the popular ballet. Editing and special effects, including pyrotechnics, keep the story of a young princess' curse and her prince in shining armor fresh and relevant. Those who grew up with Disney's famous movie version of the same name will recognize Ballet West's realization of the fairy tale. The story tells of Princess Aurora, who has been cursed by an evil fairy, Carabosse. On Aurora's sixteenth birthday, she pricks her finger and falls into a deep sleep. Only when a prince breaks the spell with a kiss ioo years later does she awaken. Adam Sklute, Ballet West's artistic director, retains the general plot line of "The Sleeping Beauty," but has shortened and revised the ballet, which often lasts four hours. It now has a run time just over two hours. "There are less scenery changes, (but the newer version maintains) a lot of choreography still based on the original production," said Peter Christie, director of the Ballet West Academy. With this kind of streamlining, Ballet West aims to entice those audience members with shorter attention spans and maintain the essentials and the artistry that draws patrons. The role of the evil fairy, Carabosse, was Bene Arnold's signature role for Ballet West in 2007. As the interim chair of the U's ballet department, Arnold looks back on her character role in "The Sleeping Beauty" as the greatest experience of her life. "(Carabosse is) cunning, cruel and evil," Arnold said, who recalls her portrayal of the fairy with relish. See BEAUTY Page 11 PHOTO COURTESY JESSE COSS Ballet West's Katherine Lawrence and Michael Bearden play Princess Aurora and Prince Desire in Adam Sklute's new production of"The Sleeping Beauty!' McLachlan to play at Kingsbury Ian Anderson STAFF WRITER Sarah McLachlan might be best known recently for her sentimental, tear-jerking animal cruelty public service announcements, but citizens of Salt Lake City can see a more charming side of the songstress Monday night at Kingsbury Hall. McLachlan, whose record sales have reached 4o million worldwide, will perform hits from her biggest commercial success, 1997's Surfacing, to her newest critically acclaimed CHARLES SYKES/The Associated Press Sarah McLachlan will perform Monday night at 7:30 p.m. at Kingsbury Hall. album, zoIo's Laws Of Illusion. "The songs are as direct as Ms. McLachlan's have ever been, and as finely tuned," wrote New York Times music critic Jon Pareles about McLachlan's Laws Of Illusion. "The album is as lush and measured...It's a collection of ballads, hymns and waltzes, sung in long arcs of melody with a voice that enfolds its strength in breathy intimacy. Acoustic instruments gleam, with unearthly keyboards and electric guitars billowing up around them." Playing alongside McLachlan on Monday night is friend and bandmate Butterfly Boucher. The Australian native—whose name really is Butterfly— connected with mass audiences when the extremely popular television show "Grey's Anatomy" featured some of her songs. The sound and look of this upand-coming artist mirror those aterial love is in the air, and couples are desperately seeking ways to please their lovers on this upcoming Valentine's Day weekend. A wide range of events are going on during the next few days, and these couples, and even the emotionally sapped and hopeless romantics who eye their happy counterparts' antics with disdain can find something to do. Of course there are the traditional and See MCLAUCHLAN Pace 11 See VALENTINES Pace 10 EDITOR'S CHOICE by Mohammad Allam True love and art stop for no holiday M |