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<i>Cinderella</i> première to open ballet season

28.07.2017

Cinderella première to open ballet season

A masterpiece of Soviet ballet is to receive a reboot on our stage. Rostislav Zakharov’s production of Prokofiev’s Cinderella is being staged to mark the 110th anniversary of the birth of the eminent Soviet choreographer, which will be celebrated on 9 September. The ballet, which originally premièred at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre in 1945, came to be a symbol of victory in the Great Patriotic War (World War II). The choreographer himself stated that the production „should be seen as a song about the spring of human life, youth, happiness, and aspirations.“

The Mikhailovsky Theatre’s Artistic Director Vladimir Kekhman is confident that choreographer Rostislav Zakharov and artist Pyotr Williams created a truly joyful performance that is sure to draw in audiences today. „We want to stage this legendary and spectacular ballet so that it meets the expectations of the modern theatregoer“, he said. „We have used the latest in theatrical technology to achieve this aim. A magical fairy tale will come to life on the stage, drawing in children and adults alike.“

The original choreography has been reconstructed by the Mikhailovsky’s Ballet Master in Chief, Mikhail Messerer. „Zakharov's ballet is so well constructed, you can sense in its composition the hand of a great master“, he said. „The choreography is mesmerizing, both in its musicality and in its classical clarity. Our Company is delighted with the wide variety of dances, giving each of them the opportunity to really come into their own.“

The esteemed Vyacheslav Okunev, the production’s stage designer, talks of the inspiration he took from Pyotr Williams’ ideas and sketches. „We are striving to preserve the charm of the historical production, but we have far more tools and resources at our disposal now than our predecessors did“, Okunev said. „We are combining traditional sets with video art. We give a new dimension to Williams’ sketches by using 3D technology. Every aspect of the ballet is the result of a huge amount of work to select and render the material.“

Multimedia director Gleb Filshtinsky is there to make sure the audience feels the reality of what is occurring on stage. „We need to tell this story in an appealing fashion, without harming Rostislav Zakharov’s creation: to add to and develop its visual range“, he says, explaining his idea. „I am convinced that Zakharov and Williams would not have passed up the opportunity to exploit modern technologies, and that they would have been more radical than us.“

The entire ballet company will be involved in the première performances.