On 16 and 21 November the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre will be hosting the premiere of Vladimir Varnava's ballet Daphnis et Chloé to music by Maurice Ravel.
Choreographer Vladimir Varnava is already known to St Petersburg audiences for productions of the ballets Yaroslavna, Clay, Keep Calm and Pétrouchka. In addition to ballet, he has worked a great deal in drama, in his productions combining vivid theatricality and a search for a new dance language. The choreographer's co-creator is Pavel Semchenko, artist, stage designer and stage director, one of the founders of the AKHE theatre. Known to audiences for his performances at numerous stages in Russia and having collaborated several times with Varnava, Semchenko is working at the Mariinsky Theatre for the first time.
The ballet Daphnis et Chloé is also entering the company's constant repertoire for the first time – previously it has been performed only on special occasions. In 1974 Mai Murdmaa's production was brought to the Kirov Theatre from the National Opera of Estonia for Mikhail Baryshnikov's artistic soirée, while in 2005 it was staged for the gala of prima ballerina Daria Pavlenko (choreography by Kirill Simonov).
The new production has been created taking into account the specifics of the space at the Concert Hall, where audience seating is located around the stage and from which the dancers may be closely observed, as in Greek Hellas theatre, to the times of which the plot of Daphnis et Chloé refers. Ravel's colourful score is yet another occasion for the premiere's Musical Director and Conductor Valery Gergiev to demonstrate his skill with the orchestra.
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