Presented by The Stars of the Ballet Russia Company, the programme features Act 2 and Act 4 of Swan Lake in the first half of the programme, the romantic pas de deux from the timeless Sleeping Beauty in which Princess Aurora and the Prince celebrate their marriage, and the magnificent Grand Pas Classique from the ever-popular Paquita, widely considered one of the finest achievements of choreographer Marius Petipa, close the second half.
Danced to the sublime music of Tchaikovsky (Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty) and the legendary ballet composer Minkus (Paquita), the creative direction of Pearls of the Russian Choreography is in the hands of Yury Vetrov and Maria Bylova, who were both celebrated ballet stars of the Bolshoi Theatre during the tenure of choreographer and Bolshoi Artistic Director, Grigorovich. From 1990 to 1994 Yury Vetrov himself served as a director of the Bolshoi Ballet.
Maria Bylova has been described as one of the most outstanding ballerinas of all time. Her grace and elegance captivated audiences during her celebrated international career as a showcased prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theatre. Her performances are well archived on film and you will find many a young ballerina feasting on her extraordinary skill on YouTube clips. The Spring Waters pas de deux is one such favourite. Maria Bylova is currently the ballet mistress of Stars of the Ballet Russia instilling her exacting standards on this carefully selected touring company.
Beautiful and talented, the featured soloists are Maria Sokolnikova and Maria Klueva from the Russian National Ballet. The impressive German Zhukovsckiy, a 2012 soloist of the Bolshoi Ballet Theatre and a recent member of the Kremlin Ballet, will partner them. Mikhailov Mikhail, an award-winning lead dancer also from the Kremlin Ballet will join them.
The South African season opens at the Theatre of Marcellus at Emperors Palace on Saturday, 2 August with a matinee at 3pm and an evening show at 8pm, followed by special Sunday matinee on Sunday, 3 at 3pm. The company then moves to Bloemfontein's Sand du Plessis for a performance on Tuesday, 5 at 6pm and to the Playhouse Opera in Durban on 6 and 7 at 7.30 pm. The tour comes to an end with performances at The State Theatre Opera on 9 at 3pm and 7.30 pm and at 3pm on 10 August.
Tickets are priced between R150 and R280 and can be secured through Computicket.
