Greg Horsman’s production of The Sleeping Beauty will return to the Royal New Zealand Ballet this spring, 15 years after more than 42,000 people attended its original nationwide tour.
Created for the RNZB in 2011 by Australian choreographer and former Australian Ballet principal artist Greg Horsman, the production has since developed a considerable trans-Tasman history. Horsman left the New Zealand company in 2012 to join Queensland Ballet, which introduced his Sleeping Beauty to Australian audiences in 2015 and has returned to it several times since.
When Queensland Ballet revived the production in 2021, Dance Australia described it as a “beautifully realised interpretation”. Horsman retains the ballet’s great classical set pieces, giving the surrounding story warmth, humour and a strong sense of theatrical adventure.
Now the production returns to the company for which it was first made, with a new generation of RNZB dancers preparing to take on Aurora, Prince Désiré, the Lilac Fairy, Carabosse and the ballet’s demanding sequence of solo and ensemble roles.
“We look forward to a new generation of dancers taking on these coveted roles as this much-loved story awakens once more,” said RNZB Artistic Director Ty King-Wall.
The production brings together Horsman’s choreography with sets and costumes by former RNZB Artistic Director Gary Harris and lighting by Jon Buswell. Magical elements created by Wellington’s Wētā Workshop give the fairytale world a distinctly New Zealand character.
Set to Tchaikovsky’s score, the production follows Princess Aurora from her christening and Carabosse’s curse to the famous Rose Adagio, enchanted sleep and final wedding celebrations. Horsman’s staging preserves the scale and formality of the classical ballet while allowing its court, fairies and storybook characters to register as individuals.
Live orchestral accompaniment will be a major part of the season in Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland. Hamish McKeich will conduct the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in Wellington, the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra in Christchurch and Auckland Philharmonia in Auckland. Performances in the remaining centres will use a recorded performance by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
The tour will open at Wellington’s St James Theatre on 29 October before travelling to Christchurch, Invercargill, Dunedin, Hamilton, Auckland, Palmerston North and Napier. It concludes on 20 December, bringing the RNZB’s 2026 season to a suitably grand close.
Its reach beyond the three largest cities is also significant. Audiences in Invercargill, Dunedin, Hamilton, Palmerston North and Napier will be able to see a full-length classical production that has already built a substantial reputation on both sides of the Tasman.
Fifteen years after its creation, Horsman’s The Sleeping Beauty returns with a history shared between two national companies and a fresh RNZB cast ready to inherit it.