06.08.2012
Summer of Ballet
Throughout the glorious White Nights the Mikhailovsky Theatre is presenting the finest ballets in the repertoire of classical ballet. With the arrival of the warm summer evenings, when the chestnut trees are in bloom on Arts Square, and the scent of lilac drifts in from the Field of Mars, these immortal classics take on a special charm, appearing excitingly new.
Swan Lake will, as per tradition, be the centrepiece of the repertoire in June and July. Seen all over the world as the embodiment of Russian ballet, Swan Lake will be performed almost every week, finally closing the season on 29 July. Theatregoers may see Irina Perren or Ekaterina Borchenko in the role of Odette/Odile, while the part of Siegfried will on several occasions be played by Leonid Sarafanov.
Viewers always fall in love with Sleeping Beauty, an enchanting spectacle created by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. This great three-act production is often called an ‘encyclopaedia of ballet’: there is no other work in the repertoire that so fully employs all the potential of classical dance.
The summer programme also features the romantic ballet Giselle, ou Les Wilis, the bright Oriental flair of Le Corsaire; and The Nutcracker, full of poetry and elements of the grotesque. Another ballet that never fails to charm the audience is La Bayadère, a blend of the exoticism of the East and the classical perfection of the renowned scene The Kingdom of the Shades — a contrast that creates emotional tension and aesthetic harmony.
Swan Lake will, as per tradition, be the centrepiece of the repertoire in June and July. Seen all over the world as the embodiment of Russian ballet, Swan Lake will be performed almost every week, finally closing the season on 29 July. Theatregoers may see Irina Perren or Ekaterina Borchenko in the role of Odette/Odile, while the part of Siegfried will on several occasions be played by Leonid Sarafanov.
Viewers always fall in love with Sleeping Beauty, an enchanting spectacle created by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. This great three-act production is often called an ‘encyclopaedia of ballet’: there is no other work in the repertoire that so fully employs all the potential of classical dance.
The summer programme also features the romantic ballet Giselle, ou Les Wilis, the bright Oriental flair of Le Corsaire; and The Nutcracker, full of poetry and elements of the grotesque. Another ballet that never fails to charm the audience is La Bayadère, a blend of the exoticism of the East and the classical perfection of the renowned scene The Kingdom of the Shades — a contrast that creates emotional tension and aesthetic harmony.
