The Evgeny Panfilov Ballet is the main stronghold of contemporary dance that gave the city of Perm the reputation of the regional centre of contemporary choreography.

An amateur company, the brainchild of Evgeny Panfilov, in 1990s transformed into the first Russian private theatre. Later there appeared the original Panfilov’s companies: Ballet of the Fat, The Fight Club, The Bel Corps de Ballet Group. By the turn of the centuries the united Panfilov’s theatre included four dance companies. In 2000, the private company The Evgeny Panfilov Ballet, the recipient of the Golden Mask Awards, got the status of a state regional establishment of culture.

On 12 November at the Mikhailovsky Theatre the Evgeny Panfilov Ballet will present one-act ballets Casting-Off and Waltzes for the Dim-witted.

The ballet Casting-Off is a recipient of the Golden Mask Award-2009 in the categories «The Best Production/Modern Dance», «The Best Lighting Design/Musical Theatre.» According to the choreographer Larisa Alexandrova, the ballet asks, if “there is a way to stay safe and overcome the necessity to make the choice?”

Waltzes for the Dim-witted is a one-act ballet set by Evgeny Panfilov in 1991 to musiñ by Alexander Vertinsky, Vladimir Martynov and the group Les Reines Prochaines. The production was revived in 2004, two years after the tragic death of the choreographer.