At first, it seemed as if Tuesday’s performance of “Sleeping Beauty” by the Russian National Ballet at the Maine Center for the Arts was going to be a disappointment. The hokey fake flowers, the canned music and frilly costumes were a distraction in the same way Saturday morning cartoons are a distraction when you were hoping to read the newspaper instead.

By the end of the first act, however, the dancers had proved themselves a capable and affable company with occasional sparks of glitter. Natlia Kungurtseva as Princess Aurora was a smiling spitfire well-matched by Vitaly Zabelin’s sinewy Prince Charming. Yuri Vetrov’s evil Fairy Carabosse, who curses the princess and puts her into a 100-year snooze, was villainously fun to watch, adding dynamism and humor to a sometimes sugary production.

Indeed, most of the principal dancers in this fairly young company were vibrant in this beloved ballet by the great Russian choreographer Marius Petipa, set to romantic music by Tchaikovsky. The corps de ballet had an extraordinarily pleasant demeanor, but didn’t have the angular verve of the soloists. Nevertheless, it was clear this was a well-trained ensemble working hard to be elegant and strong under the direction of Bolshoi Ballet dancer Sergei Radchenko.

The set included simple backdrops of palace and forest scenery, and costumes fulfilled the quota of chiffony tutus for a good long while. The most entertaining segments included Carabosse and his loose-limbed cronies foiling the classical look and behavior of the straight-backed troupe.

This production, a stop on the Russian National Ballet’s first North American tour, was clearly designed for the particular pleasure of children, although the three-hour length might have been pushing it for some kiddies in the audience. Serious ballet lovers probably enjoyed the sky-bound male dancers and the spunky ballerinas, but may have found themselves wishing for just a smidge more magic.