Royal Moscow returns to Durban
Book your tickets now to see the Royal Moscow Ballet perform three classical ballet masterpieces.
DRAMA, romance and passion will unite when the Royal Moscow Ballet takes the stage at The Playhouse Opera Theatre in Durban on Saturday, 16 April.
The company, which consists of principal dancers from leading Russian choreography schools, will perform three classical ballet masterpieces – the dreamy Chopiniana (Les Sylphides), the fiery Carmen and the dazzling Paquita Grand Pas.
Founded by principal dancer and choreographer, Anatoly Emelianov, and creative director, Anna Alexidze, in 2002, the Royal Moscow Ballet has given more than 1 000 performances in countries around the globe.
The programme opens with Chopiniana, which had its first performance in St Petersburg, Russia in 1907 with music by Frederic Chopin and choreography by Mikhail Fokine, who said the ballet was his ‘favourite child’, representing his dream of romantic ballet ‘with all its mood, poetry and sadness’.
Renamed Les Sylphides in 1909, it featured the great Anna Pavlova and introduced Russian ballet to the western world. It is still among the repertoires of major ballet companies throughout the world.
Carmen was first set as a one-act ballet by the famed Russian choreographer, Marius Pepita, in 1845, some 30 years before George Bizet’s celebrated opera was first heard. Several versions followed, including that by choreographer, Alberto Alonso, working with renowned Russian ballerina, Maya Plisetskaya, whose husband, Rodion Shehedrin, created the Carmen Suite based on Bizet’s music scored only for strings and percussion instruments.
The programme culminates with the Paquita Grand Pas, first presented by the Paris Opera Ballet in 1846. After several revivals, it is still a major cornerstone of traditional classical ballet repertory. The title role of the Spanish gypsy girl who saves the life of a French officer has been performed by the world’s leading ballerinas, including Pavlova, who included it in her company’s repertory. The ballet was also staged in the 1970s by Rudolf Nureyev for La Scala, The Vienna State Opera Ballet and The American Ballet Theatre.
The Royal Moscow Ballet is presented in South Africa by the Edouard Miasnikov Agency, whose objective is to widen cultural exchange and sharing between Russia and South Africa.
There will be two shows on Saturday, 16 April at 3pm and at 7.30pm. Tickets range from R200 to R300, and are available through Computicket.
