The Ballet Nacional de Costa Rica will bring Sleeping Beauty to the Teatro Nacional on June 6 and 7, staging one of classical ballet’s best-known works at Costa Rica’s leading cultural venue. The production will be presented in three performances: Saturday, June 6 at 7:00 p.m., and Sunday, June 7 at 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
The staging is expected to feature about 50 dancers, including members of the Ballet Nacional de Costa Rica and young Costa Rican performers selected to join the corps de ballet. International guest artists Laura Barbosa and Eduardo Diez, from Mexico’s Ballet de Monterrey, will lead the cast, along with Harold Méndez of State Street Ballet in Los Angeles. They will perform alongside BNC’s resident professional dancers under the artistic direction of Annia Rosales Surená.
For the Ballet Nacional de Costa Rica, the June performances mark one of the company’s largest productions to date. The company has described La Bella Durmiente as one of the most demanding works in the classical repertoire, citing its technical difficulty, large cast, and elaborate staging.
The ballet, known in English as The Sleeping Beauty, was composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and originally choreographed by Marius Petipa. It premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg in 1890 and remains one of the central works of the classical ballet canon.
Based on the fairy tale by Charles Perrault, the story follows Princess Aurora, who is cursed by the dark fairy Carabosse and falls into an enchanted sleep before being awakened by true love’s kiss. The ballet is known for its grand scale, formal structure, and technical set pieces, including the famous Rose Adagio.
The choice of the Teatro Nacional gives the production added weight. The theater, completed in 1897, is one of Costa Rica’s most recognized cultural landmarks and was declared a national monument in 1965.
BNC executive director Viviana Clare has said the company was founded eight years ago to expand access to classical ballet in Costa Rica and create professional opportunities for dancers in a country where full-time ballet positions remain limited. The June production continues that mission by combining international guest performers with Costa Rican dancers and emerging local talent.
Tickets are available through Ticketshow and the Teatro Nacional’s official sales channels.
