The story of Aurora is widely known. A beautiful princess is cursed by a witch until her true love can awaken her with a kiss.

The School of Theatre and Dance is taking this fairy tale and adding ballet slippers. The ballet is based on a version of “Sleeping Beauty” written by Charles Perrault in 1697. The music for the ballet was composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

“Sleeping Beauty” was originally meant to be a four-hour performance, but has been condensed to less than two hours.

This is the fourth time the School of Theatre and Dance has performed “Sleeping Beauty” since 1989. “Sleeping Beauty” was the first full-length ballet the school performed.

“It’s very seldom that we get a chance to see full-length ballets, especially one of the great classical ballets,” said Randall Newsom, director of the dance program for the School of Theatre and Dance.

The cast consists of 40 to 50 people. Practices began for “Sleeping Beauty” during the second week of the semester.

This performance includes elements that normally are not seen in the School of Theatre and Dance’s productions. Some new additions include a scene with pyrotechnics and new lighting techniques. A lighting board provided by Upstaging, Inc. in Sycamore will be used for this production. It is the same board used at the MTV Music Video Awards.

“It’s not just dancing,” said cast member Melissa Rebora, a freshman nutrition and dietetics major. “There’s a lot of acting involved. It’s also comical.”

When: Nov. 18 to 21, Monday to Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

Where: Stevens Building O’Connell Theatre

Cost: Students $7.00, Seniors $8.00, General Public $14.00

More Info: For more information, or to make reservations, call the Stevens Building box office at 753-1600.