Guest stars join Don Quixote cast

It has become something of a tradition at the Mikhailovsky Theatre to introduce its audience to brilliant dancers from the country’s top ballet companies. On 23 February, two guest stars will again grace the stage of the theatre. Anastasia Matvienko, of the Mariinsky Theatre, and Roman Polkovnikov, the principal dancer of the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre, will dance the main roles in the scintillating Don Quixote. The dancers recently took part in a gala concert celebrating ten years of dancer and choreographer Ivan Vasiliev’s career.

Anastasia Matvienko is well known to Mikhailovsky audiences. She has danced leading roles here on a number of occasions, mainly in classical ballets, but also in other works. Roman Polkovnikov first performed at the Mikhailovsky in January’s gala, dancing The Sleeping Beauty pas de deux. His appearance in Don Quixote will mark his first full-length performance in St. Petersburg.

The ballet will, notably, bring dancers from three different branches of the Russian school of ballet together on stage. The fact that they come from cities spanning five time zones does not seem to weaken their solidarity on stage. Anastasia Matvienko graduated from the Kiev Ballet School, while Roman Polkovnikov is a graduate of the Novosibirsk State Ballet School. The Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg will be represented by other dancers in the production, and by our star ballerina Ekaterina Borchenko, who will dance the role of the Queen of the Dryads.