X International Ballet Festival "Mariinsky"
Mariinsky Ballet Festival 2010
15 April - 25 April 2010 Mariinsky Theatre and the Concert Hall Artistic Director: Maestro Valery Gergiev
The X International Ballet Festival "Mariinsky" 2010
In line with tradition, the festival opens with a premiere. This year it will be Rodion Shchedrin's ballet Anna Karenina with choreography by Alexei Ratmansky, making it the ballet master's latest work for the Mariinsky Theatre. In the premiere performances the lead roles will be performed by Diana Vishneva ( 15 April ) and Ulyana Lopatkina ( 16 April ), two outstanding Mariinsky Theatre ballerinas with different artistic temperaments and performing styles. They will be partnered by Andrian Fadeyev ( 15 April ) and Yuri Smekalov ( 16 April ).
Ratmansky's Anna Karenina has been a ballet hit throughout Europe in recent years. Initially staged by the choreographer for the Danish National Ballet, it has subsequently been performed by other great ballet companies throughout the world; it has also received the prestigious Benois de la danse prize.
Another premiere of the festival will be the legendary Shchedrin-Bizet Carmen Suite with choreography by Alberto Alonso. The production is being staged at the Mariinsky Theatre with the participation of Maya Plisetskaya, the first performer of the role of Carmen in this ballet. The Mariinsky Theatre premiere on 19 April will be performed by Ulyana Lopatkina.
One of the festival's highlights will be the Evening of Young Choreographers on 23 April, where three young contemporary choreographers – Edwaard Liang, Emil Faski and Yuri Smekalov – will present their one-act ballets, created specially for the Mariinsky Ballet Company's leading soloists – Yekaterina Kondaurova, Viktoria Tereshkina and Leonid Sarafanov.
The IX International Ballet Festival MARIINSKY. Mariinsky (Kirov) Opera and Ballet theatreYet another highlight of the festival will be a performance featuring by stars of the world's greatest ballet companies together with Mariinsky Theatre partners in a programme of duets from the Mariinsky Theatre's “gold reserves”. In Romeo and Juliet with choreography by Leonid Lavrovsky, on 17 April Polina Semionova ( Staatsballett Berlin ) will be performing alongside Vladimir Shklyarov ( Mariinsky Theatre ); in La Bayadere on 18 April, the lead roles will be danced by Viktoria Tereshkina and Igor Zelensky ( Mariinsky Theatre ) and Maria Alexandrova ( Bolshoi Theatre ); on the evening of 19 April the title role in George Balanchine's Apollo will be performed by Mathieu Ganio ( Opera de Paris ); on 20 April Natalia Osipova ( Bolshoi Theatre ) will be performing Giselle together with Leonid Sarafanov ( Mariinsky Theatre ); Swan Lake on 21 April will feature the duo of Svetlana Zakharova and Andrei Uvarov ( both Bolshoi Theatre ); and on 24 April Alina Somova ( Mariinsky Theatre ) and David Hallberg ( American Ballet Theatre ) will be performing the lead roles in The Sleeping Beauty.
Outstanding past masters of the Kirov Theatre Tatiana Vecheslova and Vakhtang Chabukiani are to be honoured with a performance of Giselle on 20 April and La Bayadere on 18 April. During the festival, there will be master classes by Michel Denart, Principal Coach and Ballet-Master at the Opera de Paris, and Grigory Chicherin, Principal Coach at the National Ballet Academy in Amsterdam. The festival draws to a close on 25 April with a gala concert featuring soloists of the Mariinsky Ballet Company and guest soloists including David Hallberg, Daniil Simkin and Alina Cojocaru among others. VTB - General Sponsor of the X Mariinsky International Ballet FestivalIn line with tradition, the festival is being run with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. The production of the ballet Anna Karenina has been made possible thanks to the support of the Deutsch-Russische Ballettstiftung. The Astoria is the recommended hotel for festival guests.
About International Ballet Festivals "MARIINSKY"
The international ballet festival is one of the most significant events in the ballet season, drawing ballet-lovers from all over the world to St Petersburg. The main strategy of the festival is to attract stars of world ballet to Russia’s cultural capital. Regular participants in the festival include Mariinsky Theatre stars Diana Vinevsha, Ulyana Lopatkina, Alina Somova, Viktoria Tereshkina, Yekaterina Kondaurova, Igor Zelensky, Leonid Sarafanov, Andrian Fadeyev and Vladimir Shklyarov. Since it was established, the Mariinsky international ballet festival has seen performances by such internationally acclaimed stars as Vladimir Malakhov, Agnes Letestu, Aurelie Dupont, Mathieu Ganio (Opera National de Paris), Roberto Bolle, Maria Kowroski, Manuel Legris, Alina Cojocaru, Johan Kobborg, Paloma Herrera, Nikolai Tsiskaridze and Svetlana Zakharova at the theatre. In line with tradition, each festival opens with a ballet premiere and it concludes with a gala concert featuring stars of international ballet.
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