Sleeping Beauty gets the Royal treatment from Erico Montes

Brazilian-born Royal Ballet dancer and choreographer Erico Montes was recently in Malta, where he spent two weeks working with the students and staff of the Brigitte Gauci Borda School of Dance.

The classes marked the start of rehearsals for the School’s upcoming Christmas production, Sleeping Beauty, which will take place on 5 and 6 December.

“It’s been a wonderful two weeks in Malta, albeit intensive,” says Erico, who is a First Artist at London’s prestigious Royal Ballet. “While here, I worked with over 200 students from the School; the standards are very high and some students have exceptional talent. I’m incredibly impressed and very happy to have had the opportunity to work with Brigitte Gauci Borda and her students.”

Erico is one of the artists in charge of choreographing and staging the Brigitte Gauci Borda School of Dance’s production of Tchaikovsky’s iconic Sleeping Beauty, which will mark a quarter of a century since the school’s opening. The show will be staged at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta, on 5 and 6 December.

 “It’s a fairy tale with a strong message,” explains Erico, “but while there are parts of it that I’m adapting and rearranging, the ballet and the score dictate how the story goes, and it is a fantastic map to this timeless fairy tale.”

The staging of Sleeping Beauty by the Brigitte Gauci Borda School of Dance will also coincide with world-round concerts and productions marking Tchaikovsky’s 175th birthday. The Russian composer, legendary among connoisseurs and in popular culture, was born in 1840.

More information on, and tickets to, Sleeping Beauty will be released soon.