Artistic and General Director of The Mariinsky Theatre:
Valery Gergiev
Orchestra of The Mariinsky Theatre Soloists 
and Chorus of The Kirov Opera
at the Royal Opera House
21 July to 9 August 2003
The Kirov Ballet performed some of its most sumptuous and popular ballets, as well as three exciting premieres. Favourites Swan Lake and Le Corsaire were performed alongside a splendid re-staging of the original Mariinsky Theatre production of La Bayadère, which was performed in London for the first time. Also performed in London for the first time by The Kirov was Les Noces, The Rite of Spring and Etudes.
Audiences saw three works from the legendary Diaghilev era. In a programme, 'Homage to Diaghilev', Chopiniana and Schéhérazade was set against Bronislava Nijinska's Les Noces. Stravinsky's magnificently strident score was heard at its best played by The Mariinsky Orchestra, accompanied by soloists and chorus of the world-famous Kirov Opera. The music of Stravinsky was heard again in the company's re-staging of Nijinsky's masterpiece, The Rite of Spring, in a mixed programme entitled 'Contrasts'. It appeared with Balanchine's exhilarating work Serenade and Harald Lander's delightful study, Etudes.
Le Corsaire
The Kirov Ballet opens this eagerly awaited season, with its glorious production of Le Corsaire. The ballet is set on the Ionian Sea against a climate of political unrest between the Greeks and the Turks. Including all the ingredients of a traditional Russian spectacular - love, intrigue and deception, a splendid shipwreck, a harem and a kidnap, not to mention the most famous pas de trois in the classical repertoire - Le Corsaire provides a wonderful evening's entertainment
Swan Lake
24, 25, 26 July | 6, 7, 8 August 2003
The Kirov's poetic production of this timeless favourite embodies all the elements that have made Swan Lake the world's best-loved ballet.
Set to Tchaikovsky's sublime score, good triumphs over evil as Odette pursues von Rothbart to his death, thus affirming the Swan Princess's love and fidelity for Prince Siegfried.
Homage to Diaghilev
Chopiniana, Les Noces, Schéhérazade
28, 29 July | 30 July 2003
Chopiniana is the perfect foil for the brutal power of Stravinsky's music in Bronislava Nijinska's Les Noces, which will be sung in London by soloists and chorus of the magnificent Kirov Opera. Schéhérazade, with its visual extravagance, exotic sensuality and opulent score completes a programme which offers audiences a unique opportunity to enjoy an evening of works from the extraordinary Diaghilev era.
Schéhérazade is reconstructed by Andris Liepa and Isabelle Fokine.
Chopiniana and Schéhérazade was sponsored by Metromedia International Telecommunications Inc.
La Bayadère
New Production
31 July | 1, 2 August 2003
The most important event on the international dance stage for several years was The Kirov Ballet's lavish re-staging, in 2002, of the original 1900 Mariinsky Theatre production of La Bayadère.
It is presented in London for the first time. Petipa's exotic ballet of love and betrayal - with its breathtaking Kingdom of the Shades - is one of the greatest treasures in the company's repertoire.
Contrasts
Serenade, The Rite of Spring, Etudes
4, 5 August 2003
Contrasts brings together three 20th-century choreographers of genius in this exciting programme of very diverse works. The clean lines of Balanchine's Serenade combine with the raw energy of Nijinsky's The Rite of Spring - set to one of Stravinsky's most phenomenal scores - and Etudes. Harald Lander's adapted theme on a ballet class, with its showcase for dancing, its gentle charm and enchanting humour, has captivated audiences ever since its premiere in Copenhagen over fifty years ago.
The Rite of Spring and Etudes were sponsored by The Mariinsky Theatre Trust (UK). Serenade was presented by arrangement with The George Balanchine Trust.
The company showcased some of the most dazzling dancers in the world today, highlighting:
Tatiana Amosova, Janna Ayupova, Maya Dumchenko, Nadezhda Gonchar, Sofia Gumerova, Uliana Lopatkina,
Yulia Makhalina, Irma Nioradze, Daria Pavlenko, Elena Sheshina, Natalia Sologub, Elvira Tarasova, Diana Vishneva,
Svetlana Zakharova and Irina Zhelonkina. Viktor Baranov, Andrian Fadeyev, Igor Kolb, Anton Korsakov, Daniil Korsuntsev, Alexander Kurkov, Andrei Merkuriev, Faroukh Ruzimatov, Leonid Sarafanov, Andrei Yakovlev and Igor Zelensky.
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