Learn about fairytale traditions

Fairytales are magical tales of adventure that usually feature a hero or heroine and a villan. These stories were told and passed down through generations. There are many different versions of the same story, which is not surprising when you think that people had to remember them. It is only in the past 100 years that fairy tales began to be recorded.

Fairytales were often created as a warning to children to avoid something that was dangerous, to encourage them to be obedient or simply to reinforce a moral message, and they usually have a happy ending. 

The bad and the good

In story ballets, there are good and bad characters. In The Sleeping Beauty, Carabosse was upset because she was born a minute after her sister, The Lilac Fairy, which meant that she just missed out on becoming fairy-in-chief. Throughout their childhood this jealousy raged, until the sisters had furious row and Carabosse was sent away from the fairy nest to the forest. Here, she lives with evil creatures, and has two ugly daughters, Pina and Lucinda.

During Aurora's Christening, Carabosse, Pina and Lucinda arrive and disrupt the celebrations. Carabosse places a curse upon Aurora that on her 16th birthday, she will accidentally prick her finger and die!

The King and Queen are devastated and the party is in ruins until the Lilac Fairy intervenes and reminds them that she has not yet given her gift to Aurora. She tells them that she doesn't have the power to reverse the effects of the curse completely, but that she can soften it so that Aurora will instead fall into a deep 100-year sleep from which she can only be woken by true love’s kiss.

Watch video: Carabosse.