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SALT LAKE CITY — For a moment, audiences of Ballet West's "The Sleeping Beauty" may be transported to scenes reminiscent of France without leaving the comfort of Capitol Theatre.
Ballet West's production of "The Sleeping Beauty" has returned with the same fairytale magic but new artistic elements on stage, said artistic director Adam Sklute.
When Sklute first retooled the production in 2011, the company partially redid the costumes and then finished them five years later. For the 2023 performance, new sets have been created for the prologue and first and third acts.
"We absolutely love our old sets, but they were built in the mid-1980s, so it was time for new designs," said Sklute. "The new set design was modeled after the Versailles courts in France, and the boat was designed specifically to look like one of the stone dolphins from the fountains in Versailles."
The boat design was brought to local Utah artist Sylvia Davis, who constructed the piece that would be used to carry the Lilac Fairy and Prince Desire off to find a sleeping Aurora in Act 2. The sculpture needed to be lightweight for motorized function but appear lifelike to audiences.
The design of the vessel was brought to Davis, who studied them until she felt she could solve every problem that might arise during construction.
"The design itself was connected to a very inspiring Renaissance fountain sculpture and provided a fun and challenging opportunity to connect to the great works of the past," said Davis.
The artist began where she often does with her pieces: the head of the animal.
"I started with cutting out the silhouette of fish, and the profile of it, because it's the most obvious first step. I kind of have to think of things from inside out a little bit in reverse," said Davis. "I always start with a head, and so until I can get the expression working I don't really go any deeper into a piece, because the head has so much power."
Much of the piece was constructed with a wood base and covered in foam. To add detail, Davis used a variety of materials. The eyes of the fish were sculpted from wood to achieve "the right expression, a tough expression," she said. Davis also utilized wood for the fish's sharp teeth to add a level of durability.
The scales of the fish were another detail the artist spent time sculpting and creating. They were cut from cardboard to keep the structure more lightweight but add texture to the piece. Davis spent time studying fish and the way their scales lay before arranging the layout of the piece.
"I took cardboard and tried several different shapes and cut them out in cardboard, and then laid out the patterns and found out what would work the best," said Davis. "I cut the foam really thin, and I cut each scale out individually and apply that on there to develop that pattern, and it offered a really nice contrast."
Davis has worked as an artist for over 30 years, with an extensive portfolio featuring commissions and galleries. She said producing theatrical pieces is a departure from other works of art she's designed.
"There's a big difference in doing them. I see myself more as a technician at a job like this because someone's handing me their design and asking me to bring it to fruition," said Davis. "But when you're in theatrical work, when you're carving foam, there is some kind of freedom."
The local artist reflected on a previous piece constructed for "Peter Pan," the mermaid wrapped around Captain Hook's ship. The artistic director of the performance wanted the mermaid's hair to be textured with bubbles around it.
"I had to look around and see what was available," said Davis. "There's an element of you have to be kind of flexible, creatively flexible, and fly by the seat of your pants a little bit."
She recalled using foam tubes to construct the scales of the mermaid and sorting through boxes of beads to achieve different textures for the hair.
The artist applauded Ballet West for utilizing someone local to complete the work.
"I think that was really generous of them. Having the confidence in me to do that was much appreciated because it kind of took my A-game to do this piece, but I knew I could," said Davis. "When somebody buys a piece from me, in one sense it tells me: 'I believe in what you do and keep working.' Every time I sell a piece I'm able to do another so it's a very integrated circle."
The final fully painted piece will appear on stage until Feb. 18, the last showing of Ballet West's "The Sleeping Beauty."
