THE beauty and magic of the Vienna Festival Ballet's Sleeping Beauty will come to Chippenham on October 24.

The company will perform the ballet at The Olympiad at 5pm.

The well-known folk tale, with its fairy godmothers, the evil Carabosse, lovely young Aurora and the handsome prince, is brought to life with sumptuous scenery and costumes.

The performance is part of a national tour which began in Blackburn in Lancashire on October 10.

The ballet has been re-staged for the company by Justine Berrie, remaining faithful to the original choreography by Petipa.

Talented principal dancers Roberta Durlai and Dimitri Rodikov take the roles of Aurora and Prince Desire.

Ms Durlai was taught by famous teachers from Romania, Bulgaria and Russia and won many international ballet competitions.

Mr Rodikov has also performed in major productions all over the world.

Artistic director Pater Mallek said the two dancers performed very well together.

"They blend so well together, and this comes across to the audience, a truly magical partnership," he said. "In a ballet like Sleeping Beauty, this is most important."

Sleeping Beauty was the first successful ballet composed by Tchaikovsky, and it was the ballet that inspired Anna Pavlova to become a ballet dancer.

Rudolf Nureyev made his debut performance in the West dancing in Sleeping Beauty, and the ballet was the first production at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, following the end of the Second World War.

Tickets cost £16.50/£12, with one child ticket free with every two full price adult tickets.