The Structure - And Meaning - Of 'The Sleeping Beauty' Ballet

The story is purely about royal succession, which you'd think wouldn't appeal to Americans. (And indeed, the ballet used to be reserved for touring European companies.) But there's more:
"The fairy godmothers whom the monarchs invite to the heiress Aurora’s christening in the Prologue take the drama into a new, larger dimension: pure classicism. They make this a ballet about ballet itself — ballet as a language of harmonious idealism, in which radiant physical geometry keeps marrying music."

Article source here:Arts Journal