18.02.2020

The XIX International Ballet Festival MARIINSKY will run from 11 to 22 March

The Mariinsky Theatre's traditional spring festival is emerging as a focal point for admirers of the art of dance on an annual basis. All audiences will find something to suit their tastes in the programme: adherents of the classics, admirers of the legacy of 20th century masters and those who strive never to miss a single premiere or a visit from international stars.

One particular section of the XIX festival will be devoted to evenings of ballets by Alexei Ratmansky. At the opening it will be possible to see the duet from the ballet Lost Illusions, which will be presented by Diana Vishneva and Bolshoi Theatre principal dancer Vladislav Lantratov, as well as Mariinsky Theatre repertoire productions. Another evening will feature the St Petersburg premiere of Seven Sonatas to music by Scarlatti. Created in 2009 for American Ballet Theatre, the production is now being brought to the Mariinsky under the supervision of the choreographer who is coming to work with the dancers in person. Returning to the stage will be the one-act Concerto DSCH to the music of Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto and Pierrot Lunaire which was created especially for Diana Vishneva using music by Schoenberg – now with a new cast. The prima ballerina herself will be appearing in the title role of Ratmansky’s full-length ballet Anna Karenina.

One of the festival’s great traditions is its artistic evenings of the dancers. These allow a performer to show several ballets to the audience in one evening, and allow the audience to see their favourite soloists in various guises. This year there will be such a gala evening for Vladimir Shklyarov, principal dancer of the Mariinsky Theatre and guest soloist of the Bayerische Staatsballett. Having rejected the role of the classical prince, he has opted for 20th century ballets: Le Jeune Homme et la Mort by Roland Petit and the triumphant Diamonds from George Balanchine’s Jewels. The surprise of the evening will come with the premiere of the ballet Palimpsest to music by Béla Bartók, which Yuri Smekalov is staging especially for Vladimir Shklyarov.

The Young Choreographers’ Workshop – a creative laboratory of the Mariinsky Theatre which brings choreographers together in the name of new discoveries and experiments – will introduce new names. Ilya Zhivoi is collaborating with the popular Russian calligraphy artist Pokras Lampas. For his first experience of working with the Mariinsky Theatre the artist will create a video sequence for a ballet to music by Glass. Vladimir Varnava and Polina Mitryashina, a Workshop debutante, St Petersburg dancer and choreographer known for her collaboration with Varnava and having appeared as his assistant on several projects, will be joining creative forces. A second new name is that of Alina Krasovskaya. For the first time, the Mariinsky Theatre soloist will be presenting a creation as a choreographer at the Workshop. Dancers of the theatre today known also as choreographers include Alexander Sergeev, whose successful debut at the last Workshop was well received not just at the Mariinsky but also on tour to New York, and Maxim Petrov, who this year will be presenting two ballets, one of which will be a continuation of Russian Dead Ends to music by Nastasya Khrushcheva. The first part of the “analytical ballet about Russian life as it is” was shown last year as part of Context Project. Yet another familiar choreographer is Dmitry Pimonov, who recently produced two full-scale works for the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre.

It will be possible to appraise the work of one of the Workshop’s participants outside the actual workshop itself by attending a recent Mariinsky Theatre premiere during the festival – Vladimir Varnava’s ballet Daphnis et Chloé to music by Ravel.

Guest soloists will take care of the variety of choreographic traditions being presented. The ballet-féerie The Sleeping Beauty will be performed with a British flavour – the lead roles will be danced by Lauren Cuthbertson, principal dancer with London’s Royal Ballet, and Xander Parish, a graduate of the Royal Ballet School and now Mariinsky Theatre principal. In Swan Lake Oxana Skorik will be appearing together with Germain Louvet, premier danseur of the Opéra de Paris. This is a special ballet for him – it was in 2016 following a performance of Swan Lake that Louvet was named a danseur étoile. A regular guest at Mariinsky Theatre festivals, St Petersburg trained Moscow prima Olga Smirnova will be appearing this year as Giselle.

The festival will conclude with a rich and intense Gala Concert at which Mariinsky Theatre soloists will again be joined by Vladislav Lantratov and Germain Louvet, as well as by Maria Alexandrova and Opéra de Paris étoiles Eleonora Abbagnato and Léonore Baulac.

In addition to dance events, this year audiences will be able to attend an  “off-programme”: creative meetings with artists, public talks with choreographers whose ballets will be performed at the festival, autograph sessions and much more besides.

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