Debuts in The Little Humpbacked Horse

The “fragile” and “technically astounding” Anastasia Kolegova once said in an interview that she loves undertaking roles that vary in terms of character and that she likes to reinvent herself, appearing onstage today as a lyrical heroine and tomorrow as a dramatic one, trying “to touch the hearts of the audience in any role.” The dancer summed up her artistic credo in one phrase – “the soul is what comes first and foremost in ballet.”

Honoured Artist of Russia Ilya Kuznetsov will be making his debut as the Tsar in this performance. Over his fifteen-year career with the Mariinsky Ballet Company as a first soloist, Ilya Kuznetsov has danced many memorable roles, among them Prince Siegfried and the evil von Rothbart in Swan Lake, Albrecht and Hans in Giselle, Romeo and Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet, Vaslav in The Fountain of Bakhchisarai and Conrad in Le Corsaire. He has danced in ballets by contemporary choreographers including John Neumeier and Hans van Manen. Kuznetsov also worked with Alexei Ratmansky on one of the choreographer’s first ballets at the Mariinsky Theatre – Le Poème de l’extase.