Dance Reviews : Browne and Van Hamel in ‘Sleeping Beauty’

Regal, wise and sympathetic, Leslie Browne’s Lilac Fairy reigned sublimely over the American Ballet Theatre “Sleeping Beauty” Saturday night in Shrine Auditorium. But her benign influence had its limits.

Martine van Hamel (replacing the originally announced Christine Dunham) was a disciplined and cheerful Aurora who took time to inhale the perfume of the roses and to mold the individual movements of her solos with clarity.

But her all-purpose dazzling smile seemed designed to mask an initial tension that made the Rose Adagio look unusually effortful and smudged some of the footwork later in Act I. From a lesser dancer, this Aurora still might have been a triumph; from Van Hamel, it suggested a thoughtful interpretation beginning to harden into rote pleasantries with a strained edge.

As the Prince, Kevin McKenzie (replacing Robert Hill) seemed a dispirited fellow genuinely enraptured by the vision of Aurora. A conscientious partner, he catapulted himself dutifully through his solos.

William Stolar as Gold made choppy hash of his solo, Alessandra Ferri as Princess Florine offered a charming port de bras filigree and John Gardner zoomed buoyantly through the Bluebird variation. Charles Barker conducted.