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| Booking opens 28th April | Box Office 020 7304 4000 |
Since its legendary first visit to London in 1961, the Mariinsky Ballet, formerly known as the Kirov,
has enthralled British audiences, enchanting and delighting with each unique performance. Synonymous with ballet history, the Mariinsky’s legendary dancers have been world-famous names since the company’s inception over 250 years ago. Mention of the Mariinsky never fails to conjure up visions of grace and aristocracy, breathtaking balletic virtuosity and lyrical mobility, with a corps de ballet famed for its celebrated precision and elegance. Now, after a four-year absence, this magnificent company of over 200 returns for a summer season at the Royal Opera House. Four stupendous productions attest to the Mariinsky’s great tradition in well-loved classics and in a homage to the great choreographer George Balanchine. |
ROMEO AND JULIET
3, 4, 5, 6 August at 7.30pm
This Mariinsky Ballet season opens with the return of one of the
most cherished and admired of twentieth-century Russian ballets:
Leonid Lavrovsky’s celebrated realisation of Romeo and Juliet.
Guided by the dramatic force and lyric power of Prokofiev’s score,
Lavrovsky’s choreography draws a grandly moving portrait of the
star-crossed lovers and the Renaissance society which frames their
tragedy. Created for the sublime Galina Ulanova, her successors in
the role have included some of the greatest of Russian ballerinas,
and the Mariinsky Ballet will show four of today’s leading
exponents: Alina Somova, Olesia Novikova, Ekaterina Osmolkina
and Evgenia Obrazstova partnered by Vladimir Shklyarov, Igor Kolb,
Evgeny Ivanchenko and Anton Korsakov as their Romeos. |
Evgenia Obraztsova and Vladimir Shklyarov
Photo Natasha Razina |
SWAN LAKE
7, 8, 10, 11 August at 7.30pm
8 August at 2pm
Swan Lake has been treasured and honoured in St. Petersburg
since the 1890s. Generations of ballerinas have aspired to the
double role of Odette, the swan princess, and Odile, the evil
enchantress. Mariinsky producers have sought to reveal the
mysterious inner world of this masterpiece, with its romantic
fervours and the brilliance of its court dances. The definitive
version of Swan Lake by the celebrated Mariinsky choreographer,
Konstantin Sergeyev, remains a superlative realisation of Petipa
and Ivanov’s magnificent choreography. The outstanding ballerinas
appearing this season - Uliana Lopatkina, Viktoria Tereshkina,
Anastasia Kolegova and Alina Somova - are heirs in direct line to
a glorious continuity of understanding and dance-genius which is
one of the Mariinsky Ballet’s great strengths. |
Uliana Lopatkina
Photo Mikhail Logvinov |
| HOMAGE TO BALANCHINE
Serenade, Rubies and Symphony in C
12, 13 August at 7.30pm
The Mariinsky Ballet pays homage to one of the greatest
choreographers in the history of ballet in an exhilarating, revelatory
evening of three inspirational works of imagination and originality.
Balanchine’s trademark clarity, classicism and athleticism are
imbued with the Mariinsky dancers’ celebrated elegance and beauty.
Serenade is a magical fusion of Balanchine’s choreographic genius
with Tchaikovsky’s poetry and drama. Rubies, the witty central section
of Balanchine’s sparkling three-act ballet Jewels, was inspired by
Stravinsky’s vibrant, jazzy score. Symphony in C is a superlative
realisation of Georges Bizet’s youthful, effervescent symphony,
where the dance, like the score, is filled with joyous assurance.
Supported by Mrs Bettina von Siemens
Serenade Rubies and Symphony in C are presented by arrangement
with The George Balanchine Trust |
Ekaterina Kondaurova in Rubies
Photo Natasha Razina
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THE SLEEPING BEAUTY
14, 15 August at 7.30pm
15 August at 2pm
‘The greatest of all ballets’. This claim made for the fairy-tale story
of the Sleeping Beauty awakened from a spell by a Prince’s kiss is
hard to deny. From the first, Petipa’s staging of The Sleeping Beauty
for the Mariinsky was revered as the culminating masterpiece of
classical ballet, delighting audiences with its spectacular effects
and the glories of its sublime dances and its no less sublime
music. Konstantin Sergeyev’s superlative production is a visually
magnificent realisation of Petipa’s choreography. Interpreters this
season include the superb Uliana Lopatkina, Viktoria Tereshkina,
Alina Somova and Leonid Sarafanov, heirs in direct line from those
very first Petersburg dancers. One cannot ask for better. |
Ekaterina Osmolkina and Leonid Sarafanov
Photo Valentin Baranovsky
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