21 – 31 March 2019
The Mariinsky Theatre, The Mariinsky II
The XVIII International Ballet Festival Mariinsky will run at the Mariinsky Theatre from 21 March to 31 March. This year’s programme includes a retrospective show of the art of choreography from Marius Petipa’s masterpieces through Art Nouveau and Neoclassicism of the 20th century to the works of modern choreographers, both those who have already written their names in the history of ballet and those who are only preparing to do that. The XVIII Festival will open with the Russian premiere of Push Comes to Shove by Twyla Tharp, a legendary American Emmy Award-winning and Tony Award-winning choreographer, who was also recognised with the National Medal of the Arts (US). In 1976, the choreographer staged the production for Mikhail Baryshnikov and artists of the American Ballet Theatre. To prepare the premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre, Twyla Tharp will come to Russia for the first time and will personally lead the staging process and work with artists of the St Petersburg company. The premiere will take place as part of An Evening of American Choreography (21 March and 22 March, the Mariinsky Theatre). The programme of the event will showcase different facets of American ballet theatre: from George Balanchine (Serenade) and Jerome Robbins (In the Night) to the contemporary legend Twyla Tharp.
The Mariinsky Theatre’s Creative Workshop of Young Choreographers will be full of surprises and will mark one more gift to the spectators (26 March, the Mariinsky II). The world premiere of the ballet set to Mick Jagger’s (The Rolling Stones) songs staged by Melanie Hamrick, a dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, will take place as part of the project. The soloists of the Mariinsky Ballet Alexander Sergeev and Vladimir Shklyarov will make their debut as choreographers during the event. Sergeev staged a ballet number to the music of Heitor Villa-Lobos, while Shklyarov together with Alexander Tchelidze staged a ballet fragment to the music of Bhima Yunusov composed especially for the project. Dmitry Pimonov will present his new work for the second time at the Creative Workshop of Young Choreographers, this time set to Georgs Pelēcis’s music. The festival’s regular participants include such famous St Petersburg choreographers as Ilya Zhivoi with a one-act ballet to the music by Ezio Bosso, Maxim Petrov with a work set to Simeon ten Holt’s music, and Yuri Smekalov with a work set to Giovanni Bottesini’s music.
The festival’s playbill will be graced by the Mariinsky Theatre’s repertoire production featuring the Mariinsky Ballet dancers and guest stars. On 23 March (the Mariinsky II), lead roles in Yuri Grigorovich’s The Legend of Love will be performed by Maria Alexandrova (Mekhmeneh Bahnu) and Vladislav Lantratov (Ferkhad), a principal with the Bolshoi Theatre. The following day, the Mariinsky Theatre will host a performance of Giselle choreographed by Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot, and Marius Petipa featuring the Bolshoi Theatre’s prima ballerina Olga Smirnova in the title role. She will be partnered with Kimin Kim (Count Albrecht), a principal with the Mariinsky Theatre, for the performance. On 28 March (the Mariinsky Theatre), Natalia Osipova, a principal with the Royal Ballet UK, will appear as Kitri in Alexander Gorsky’s Don Quixote with Vladimir Shklyarov, a principal with the Mariinsky Theatre, appearing as Basilio. On 29 March (the Mariinsky II), lead roles in The Sleeping Beauty choreographed by Marius Petipa and revised by Konstantin Sergeev will be performed by British dancers: Lauren Cuthbertson (Princess Aurora), a principal with the Royal Ballet UK, and Xander Parish (Prince Désiré), a principal with the Mariinsky Theatre.
The festival’s programme also includes ballets Jewels choreographed by George Balanchine (27 March, the Mariinsky II) and Swan Lake choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov (30 March, the Mariinsky II).
On 31 March, the XVIII International Ballet Festival Mariinsky will close with a gala concert, whose programme includes one-acts ballets: Alberto Alonso’s Carmen-Suite starring Olga Smirnova and Kimin Kim, Frederick Ashton’s Marguerite and Armand starring Lauren Cuthbertson and Xander Parish, as well as a classical divertissement starring leading dancers of the Mariinsky Theatre (the Mariinsky II).
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