A Visit to the Sleeping Beauty

International students fr om Iraq, Malaysia, India, Egypt and Tanzania found themselves in the magic world of Charles Perrault's fairy tale familiar fr om childhood. It all happened thanks to the brilliant music played by the Nizhny Novgorod orchestra and the performances of ballet dancers whose fouettés, pas de deux, pas de trois mesmerized the audience. Our students came to realize that the great power of art could bridge cultures – different in terms of geography. The visitors admired the dancing of the fairies, the prince and the princess and resented the intrusion of the wicked fairy.

Most of all, the students enjoyed the scene of the ball given in honor of the protagonists’ wedding: the fairy-tale characters (Little Red Riding Hood and Gray Wolf, Puss in Boots and Kitty, Cinderella and Prince Charming, the Bluebird and Princess Florine) came to congratulate Aurora and Prince Désiré, whom the audience were happy to recognize.

"Going to the theater is an event that makes a gloomy autumn day a holiday!" – the foreigners shared their impressions after the show. And they also noted that they were lucky to study in Nizhny Novgorod – a city wh ere such music sounds and wh ere you can feel the magic of dance, and where love conquers evil, at least on the stage.