Even though New York City Ballet’s production still seemed more like “The Sleeping Beauty Show” than “Sleeping Beauty” itself, it was nevertheless a worthy endeavor, especially in the second and final week of its run. As it became both more assured and more authentic, the production seemed like a compromise between Marius Petipa’s 1890 original incarnation and Peter Martins’s 1991 revision.

“The Sleeping Beauty” challenges NYCB dancers in ways perhaps no other ballet in their repertory does. It makes them aware of the full spectrum of movement and performance possibilities in ballet, reminding both them and the audience that some of the least technical moments in ballets can prove the most daunting. In the Christening scene, for example, the Fairy cavaliers never seemed totally comfortable having to simply stand and watch the proceedings. Princess Aurora’s four suitors, however, proved increasingly capable of enjoying their opportunities for magisterial posing, striding, and flourishing as the ballet’s run progressed.

Mr. Martins adds his own, usually Balanchine-derived aesthetics to the mix of French, Italian, and Russian influences in the ballet’s original choreographic mix. Sometimes his interjections are witty, as when he slips a typically Balanchine showgirl pose into the Lilac Fairy’s riposte to Carabosse in the Spell scene of NYCB’s first act.

For the most part, though, NYCB’s ballerinas dance the role of Aurora as tradition dictates. Whenever the tempo allows, they try to convey a breathing, luxurious fullness to their steps, without scanting the impetuous nature of the teenage princess. And the company’s ballerinas are not adverse to the role’s stylistic imperatives, such as a slight floweriness in the wrists, arms, and hands. At times, the NYCB imprint surfaces unexpectedly: When Jenifer Ringer danced the role of Aurora during the first week, she phrased her Spell scene solo with a Balanchine-inspired rhythmic subtext despite being performed to 19th-century steps, the phrasing was stimulating rather than inappropriate.

At the first Sunday matinee, Sara Mearns made a well-coached and well-studied debut as the Lilac Fairy, a role she repeated last Thursday. She had danced it earlier at the School of American Ballet workshop performance, and she performed with comprehension. Ms. Mearns is constantly aware that her entire body was created to speak. Even when her arms were not issuing commands or counsel, they proclaimed Lilac’s own gracious omnipotence and omniscience. Her confrontations with the wicked Carabosse — well performed by Melissa Barak — worked better than they did earlier in the run because as the two personifications of good and evil became formidable force fields, rather than two squabbling combatants. And with Ms. Mearns as its centerpiece, the Fairy adagio became something of real beauty.

That same night, Sterling Hyltin gave a sprightly debut performance as Aurora. There is something light and darting and sparrowlike about Ms. Hyltin, and there is also real length and reach to her line. But she needs to strive for more dimensional amplitude in future performances. She is at times slightly brittle, but this is not necessarily a bad attribute in a depiction of an adolescent. Ms. Hyltin was a little flustered by the end of her Spell scene solo, but there was a great spring to her coda jumps, and her body moved seamlessly in the Vision adagio and solo. The weakest act in her performance wasthe final wedding celebration. Neither Ms. Hyltin, nor Jonathan Stafford, who was making his debut as Prince Désiré, seemed prepared to handle its majesty.

Earlier in the run, Mr. Stafford had danced “Gold” in Mr. Martins’s Jewels pas de quatre, displaying the hightest level of male technique that can be performed by any dancer in any company in the world today. But Mr. Stafford gave only a sketched picture of Prince Désiré on Thursday.

Much of this production seems designed to take this prince down a peg: Before boarding the Lilac Fairy’s boat for his mission to awaken Aurora, for example, he must first scurry to gather up his cloak and other paraphernalia from the side of the stage, where he deposited them earlier in the scene. On Thursday, too much of Mr. Stafford’s responses had a over-rehearsed flavor, and he seemed all too aware that he was not only making a debut but officiating at Ms. Hyltin’s. Both dancers are, however, well suited to their roles, and I look forward to their future development in them.