![Nureyevs The Sleeping Beauty La Scala 1966 theatre programme collection Carlo Orlandi]()
Rudolf Nureyev first staged Sleeping Beauty at La Scala in Milan and on 22 September 1966 the curtain went up on La Bella addormentata nel bosco with sets and costumes by Nicholas Georgiadis. Nureyev was Prince Florimund and Aurora was Carla Fracci.
In 1989, Nureyev said,
"When I was first learning to dance in Ufa, my ballet master, who had belonged to the Kirov ballet, used to tell me that Sleeping Beauty was the “ballet of ballets”. And I couldn’t wait to try it. It was with the Kirov ballet that I later discovered what a glorious delight it was."