Debuts in Raymonda

On 28 November Oxana Skorik will be performing the title role for the first time together with Yekaterina Ivannikova and Yulia Stepanova as Raymonda’s friends, Elena Bazhenova as the Countess Sybille, Yekaterina Mikhailovtseva in the Mazurka and Oxana Marchuk in the variation in the Dream scene. On 29 November Olga Belik and Trofim Malanov will be performing the Spanish Panaderos for the first time with Alexei Timofeyev making his debut as Béranger and Anastasia Nikitina dancing the variation in the Dream scene.

The role of Raymonda is one of the most demanding in the classical ballet repertoire. In this ballet, a masterpiece by Marius Petipa, the ballerina performs five variations in addition to the incredibly beautiful adagio, pas d’action and grand pas. Alexander Glazunov did not stint in the musical richness of the image of Raymonda, adorning the role with different emotional colours for each variation. In terms of the choreography, in each of her solo variations the heroine reveals a new facet to her character. In Act I she is carefree and youthful, in the Dream scene her variation is songfully dream-like, in Act II she is grand and triumphant, in Act III she is coquettish and, in a different style, thoughtful, performed to the piano solo... In rehearsing the role, Oxana Skorik has had to deal not just with all the technical difficulties of this highly demanding choreographic text, but also to create her own image of the heroine who embodies femininity in all its facets in this ballet. Raymonda is captivating and distant, cold and romantic, her typical qualities sad contemplation and childish frolics, self-will and a fragile need for protection. And with each and every performer this palette of qualities is painted anew.

The heroine’s multifaceted personality is reflected in the ballet by the variety of the dances and the abundance of characters who speak in the language of classical and character dance as well as mime. Many of these characters will be danced by new performers for the first time.