Debuts in The Firebird

On 12 March, the title role in the ballet The Firebird will be performed by Daria Pavlenko opposite Yuri Smekalov as Ivan Tsarevich for the first time.

Scene from the ballet The Firebird

The premiere of The Firebird took place in the Paris Opera on the 25^th of June 1910. The critics’ reviews showed that the production was an undoubted success, and its long history on the stage has confirmed its status as a masterpiece of world choreography.

Mikhail Fokine, the author of the libretto and choreography, gave audiences an original story based on motifs from Russian fairy tales about the magical and mysterious Firebird. The music was commissioned from the young Igor Stravinsky. Alexander Golovin painted the decorations, and together with Lev Bakst developed the costumes.

Mikhail Fokine found the image of the Firebird ideal to embody in dance. Fokine filled the part with leaps and swift pirouettes, creating the impression of free flight. This role not only requires perfect technique from the dancer. The headstrong and majestic Firebird can only be tamed by a ballerina who also has dramatic talent.

The prima ballerina of the Mariinsky stage Darya Pavlenko has never given audiences any reason to doubt her dancing and drama talents. Darya’s instructor Yelena Yevteeva calls her a universal ballerina, and in her turn, Pavlenko confirms this title, constantly expanding the boundaries of her own repertoire. With equal success, she dances choreographic works by Marius Petipa and Leonid Yakobson, Alexei Ratmansky and Roland Petit, George Balanchine and William Forsythe. And the press call her perhaps the most mysterious prima ballerina of the Mariinsky stage.

Darya Pavlenko’s partner on this evening will be Yury Smekalov. At the Mariinsky Theatre, Smekalov has shown himself to be a dance with an individual manner of performance: he has a rich emotional range, innate expressive movement and musicality. Smekalov is attracted by heroic and lyrical-heroic roles, and for each one he also tries to find a new interpretation. The part of Ivan Tsarevich in Mikhail Fokin’s choreography not only gives the dancer the opportunity to display individuality in movement and drama, but also to demonstrate magnificent qualities as a partner.

The evening will continue with the ballet Les Noces choreographed by Bronislava Nijinska, and will also feature three debuts. The Bride will be played by Irina Prokofieva, an artist of the corps de ballet, her Father will be played by Andrei Yakolev, and in the role of the Groom’s mother, the audience will see Yekaterina Mikhailovtseva for the first time.