Ballet. High Season

The new theatre season opens on 8 September, and the initial weeks will be devoted entirely to ballet. Over the course of three weeks, there will be performances of the best ballets in the company’s repertoire, starring many of its brightest stars as well as guest dancers. The audience will be treated to a veritable ballet marathon, with the bar set extremely high by Natalia Osipova, Polina Semionova, Ekaterina Borchenko, Irina Perren, Angelina Vorontsova, Kristina Shapran, Oksana Bondareva, Ivan Vasiliev, Ivan Zaytsev, Victor Lebedev, Leonid Sarafanov and Friedemann Vogel. The synergized talent and inspiration of these dancers, each of whom is capable of filling the house, will bring a real buzz to the theatre. This three-week period in September, which promises to be an absolute delight for lovers of classical ballet, has been given the name “Ballet. High Season”.
There is a special reason why this ballet festival is being held at the beginning of autumn. This year, the season will have an unusual format for the ballet company, which has two major tours coming up — one to the USA and one to Japan. In order to help the St. Petersburg public survive the Mikhailovsky Ballet’s long absence, it was decided that the start of the season should be devoted entirely to ballet.
“Ballet. High Season” will open with a premire: Asaf Messerer’s famous work, Class Concert. In this piece, a ballet exercise adapted for the stage, elementary movements grow into virtuoso combinations, demonstrating the limitless potential of classical dance. It shows the work that goes into creating a ballet performance, which the public does not normally see. On the same night the audience will be treated to a performance of Le Halte de cavalerie, a unique production which brilliantly showcases the work of the choreographer Marius Petipa; and White Darkness, Nacho Duato’s masterpiece and the final ballet premire of the season. This marvellous opening to the season will be followed by Swan Lake, Giselle, Don Quixote, The Flames of Paris, and The Sleeping Beauty.

News source: Mikhailovsky Theatre