British critics name the Mariinsky Ballet Company the best

23 January saw the official announcement in London of the prize-winners of Britain’s Critics’ Circle Award, a highly respected prize for dance. The  Mariinsky The atre won acclaim as most “Outstanding Company.”

At the awards ceremony at the Place’s Robin Howard Dance The atre, Chairman of the Prize Committee Graham Watts stated that “these awards emphasise (...) thriving dance culture”.

Following the lengthy selection process of sixty members of the expert dance committee had to judge productions performed in Great Britain between 1 September 2010 and 31 August 2011. The  Mariinsky The atre’s productions also won lavish critical acclaim following performances during last summer’s tour marking fifty years since the company’s first visit to London. The  tour was organised by impresarios Victor and Lilian Hochhauser, longstanding friends and partners of the Mariinsky Ballet Company. At the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Mariinsky The atre staged an impressive programme consisting of classical masterpieces as well as ballets by Michel Fokine, George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. The  tour also saw the UK premiere of Anna Karenina by Alexei Ratmansky.

During the “golden jubilee” tour featuring stellar casts, critics once more had the opportunity to see that the Mariinsky Ballet Company is one of the greatest classical dance companies in the world. Critics were unanimous in declaring that only truly “excellent dancers can inspire new life” in the most unusual productions and turn them into unforgettable events. The  Mariinsky Ballet Company demonstrated “elegant means, nobility of expression and historic resonance defining each step and every dramatic nuance” that were the result of “many years of consideration, inspiration and deference to the art that this company glorifies.” The  Critics’ Circle Award summed up the results of the ballet year and confirmed the undoubted success of the Mariinsky Ballet Company’s anniversary tour to London.

Apropos, back in 2002 it was the Mariinsky Ballet Company which was the first ever Russian company to receive this prestigious award from Britain’s Critics’ Circle.