QUITE aptly, Matthew Bourne’s latest production makes you feel like you are drifting into a hypnotic sleep.

Watching the acclaimed director’s modern interpretation of Sleeping Beauty at Liverpool’s Empire Theatre was like experiencing a dream.

But Bourne, largely credited for reinventing ballet, also has a taste for the macabre so the performance lived up to its ‘gothic fairytale’ tag.

Ballet is not for everyone, but you can only admire the skill and precision of the talented cast, led by Hannah Vassallo as Aurora and the choreography was flawless.

The ballet was in four parts chronicling Princess Aurora’s childhood, the curse on her royal parents, her tragedy when she ‘comes of age’ and the happy ending...a century later.

It can all be a bit baffling unless you are familiar with the story or the conventions of ballet, so it is best to just sit back and be mesmerised.