The Sleeping Beauty, a crowning jewel in the career of choreographer Marius Petipa, is often called the finest achievement of classical ballet. The three act ballet moves to the score by Tchaikovsky and takes inspiration from a well-know fairy tale by Charles Perrault. An evil fairy condemns a baby princess to prick her finger and die on her sixteenth birthday. The Lilac Fairy saves the child by declaring the injury will merely put the princess to sleep until awakened by a prince's kiss. The Moscow Festival Ballet, created in 1989 by Bolshoi Ballet principal dancer Sergei Radchenko, recruits leading dancers from throughout Russia.