Antoinette Sibley as Aurora with Peter Schaufuss (and Anthony Dowell, Mikhail Baryshnikov on Vimeo)

I have always been surprised by the fact that there was no full length ‘Sleeping Beauty’ on film from Antoinette Sibley, particularly given what dance writer and critic Mary Clarke said of her first Aurora on 27 December 1961, where she was partnered by John Gilpin - "Her Aurora, already enchanting, promises to be for her generation what Fonteyn's had been to mine.”

The ballerina was seen in the complete ‘Sleeping Beauty’ on BBC Television on 26th Jan 1969. She was partnered by Anthony Dowell, with Deanne Bergsma as the Lilac Fairy in the Peter Wright production. The broadcast was introduced by Christopher Gable.

In a interview in the 1980s, Sibley said her performance on the broadcast was one she was particularly happy with - and that she had been disappointed to learn it had been erased.

I’ve cobbled together the three bits of footage I have been able to find of ballerina in this role - all performances of the grand pas de deux from Act 3 of the ballet - with respectively Anthony Dowell, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Peter Schaufuss as her Prince Désiré (Florimund).

The third performance with Peter Schaufuss is seen here - and the other two performances (together with this performance again - one video with all three performances), because of copyright restrictions at YouTube, have been uploaded at Vimeo:

https://vimeo.com/129641043

Picking up a thread of comments on another video I uploaded of this PPD, it’s interesting that, like the Russians Natalia Makarova with Mikhail Baryshnikov at ABT (YT ‘Sleeping Beauty Pas de deux Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov’), Sibley, with Schaufuss here, rises from the floor on pointe into attitude - in Russian productions, the rise is on flat foot.

Enjoy!