Originally published in Waikato Times, Tuesday 18 November 2025.
By Mike Mather.
Kate Kadow and Laurynas Vejalis perform in the Royal New Zealand Ballet's The Sleeping Beauty. This scene was from a recent production of the version of the ballet devised by devised by New Zealand choreographer Greg Horsman. PHOTO: Stephen A'Court.
Ballet fans in the Waikato will not want to be caught napping for this production.
The Royal New Zealand Ballet’s first official show at the new Waikato Regional Theatre will be Sleeping Beauty, which will tuck itself in for a three-day residency in November next year.
Featuring the music of Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky, the ballet’s story is one that will be familiar to almost everyone: A princess falls into an enchanted sleep after pricking her finger, but is eventually wakened by a kiss from her true love.
It was first staged in 1890 in St Petersburg, quickly becoming the second-most popular ballet in the repertoire of the Royal Imperial Ballet.
At full length it runs to a whopping four hours. Waikato audiences will be relieved - or possibly disappointed - they will be getting the more popular shortened version.
However it is still a big deal. There are 200 costumes - not including headdresses or shoes - and 32 dancers. About 60 people are involved in staging the show.
The upcoming New Zealand season of Sleeping Beauty will also feature sets and costumes that the special effects wizards at Wētā Workshops had a hand in creating. PHOTO: Stephen A'Court.
This adaptation of the age-old tale is one devised by New Zealand choreographer Greg Horsman, which had its premiere in 2011. The show proved popular, and was seen by 42,000 people around the country.
The production was also immortalised, reality television-style, in the second series of The Secret Lives of Dancers.
Horsman subsequently left the Royal New Zealand Ballet in 2012 to take up a role at Queensland Ballet, and his version of the production has now been staged there several times - to great acclaim.
The new season of Sleeping Beauty will also feature sumptuous set designs and ornate costumes created by Howard C Jones and Donna Jefferis and a team of special effects experts from Wētā Workshops.
Sleeping Beauty will be staged at the Waikato Regional Theatre from Friday, November 27 to Sunday, November 29 with two evening performances and two matinee shows.
The Saturday night show will be preceded by a free “Warm up, curtain up” session, in which people can watch from the auditorium as the dancers warm up on stage in preparation for their performance.
No show ticket or registration is required to attend, and people are advised to arrive in the theatre’s foyer 10 minutes prior to the 7.30pm start time.
However, if they want to stick around and watch the actual performance they will, of course, have to buy a ticket.
As with the other shows at Hamilton’s new theatre, these will be available through the Ticketmaster website.
The regional theatre’s calendar is rapidly starting to fill up, with shows by Dave Dobbyn, Teeks, the Soweto Gospel Choir, Tommy Emmanuel and two concerts by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra already scheduled.