'Sleeping Beauty' gets royal treatment

Pennsylvania Ballet's opening-night performance of

Sleeping Beauty

was just that - a beauty.

Clocking in near three hours (with two intermissions), Sleeping Beauty closes the company's season on a very classical note. It is a lush ballet with a full corps, more than 30 solo parts, dozens of colorful costumes and gorgeous scenery. Marius Petipa's legendary choreography to Tchaikovsky's famous score is supplemented with additional steps and staging by Janek Schergen, who danced with Pennsylvania Ballet in the 1970s and '80s.

I'm often amazed at how hard the dancers work in a small company like Pennsylvania Ballet. For example, Abigail Mentzer - a lovely up-and-comer with striking red hair - danced two solos and in the corps de ballet on Friday night.

And several principal dancers showed up in surprising roles. Julie Diana was onstage only briefly in the second act. Amy Aldridge danced the role of Princess Florine, a wedding guest, in Act 3. And Riolama Lorenzo was the evil fairy Carabosse, a role that in other companies often goes to a retired dancer or a man dressed as a woman. Lorenzo was wonderfully fiery and passionate in the part, however.

Arantxa Ochoa was a playful, expressive Aurora (Sleeping Beauty). She has characteristics I wish more dancers in the company had: She attacks every role, projects confidence and knows how to gracefully cover up mistakes.

Zachary Hench, who danced the role of Prince Desire, usually performs with exceptional bravura. He looked a bit tired on Friday night, though.

Valerie Amiss tackled some difficult pointe work as the Lilac Fairy, Aurora's savior and matchmaker. Amiss, a soloist who has been with the company for 15 years, will retire at the end of this run.

There were a few missteps Friday night. The most noticeable was when Heidi Cruz-Austin fell off her pirouettes early in the Precious Jewels pas de trios. But she must have had a talk with herself backstage, because she came back a few moments later much stronger in the next section.

Ballet isn't easy, but I want it to look as though it is. As the season closes, my wish for next year is for every dancer to look more polished in every performance. Most of them are good enough, but they often seem to lack confidence.