Royal Moscow Ballet coming
Spira Tlhankane | Thursday March 24, 2016 12:16
The event will come with a programme of three classical ballet masterpieces.
The Royal Moscow Ballet consists of principal dancers from leading Russian choreography schools and they will perform three acts, dreamy Chopiniana (Les Sylphides), the fiery Carmen and the dazzling Paquita Grand Pas.
The programme will open with Chopiniana, which had its first performance in St Petersburg Russia in 1907 with music by Frederic Chopin and choreography by Mikhail Fokine.
It was renamed Les Sylphides in 1909 and it featured the great Anna Pavlova and ushered Russian ballet to the world.
The second act Carmen was first set as a one-act ballet by the famous Russian choreographer, Marious Pepita in 1845. However, several versions followed including the Carmen Suite based on Bizet’s music scored only for strings and percussion instruments.
The third act Paquita Grand Pas was first presented by the Paris Opera Ballet in 1846.
After several revivals it is still a major cornerstone of traditional classical ballet repertory.
Principal dancer and choreographer, Anatoly Emelianov and creative director Anna Alexidze founded the ballet in 2002. The Royal Moscow ballet has been performed in more than 100 performances in countries around the globe.
The ballet is about drama, romance and passion and the title role is about a Spanish gypsy girl who saves the life of a French officer. The world’s leading ballerinas have performed it.
OP Advertising in partnership with Edouard Miasnikov Agency will bring the event to Botswana.
During a press briefing on Tuesday, the managing director of OP Advertising, Francis Gleeson said though ballet is not common in Botswana, they decided to bring something different with this event.
“When we heard that the ballet is touring Southern Africa, we jumped at the opportunity,” he said, revealing that in the past they brought contemporary acts, but this time around they will bring a classical one.
“It promises to be an exciting story of romance,” he said.
Gleeson said they brought exciting shows in the past and the shows were well attended.
He said they would bring Recess Ballet School to meet the performers and widen cultural exchange.
“The children from the school will interact with the performers to gain knowledge,” he said.
He encouraged men to stop shying away from ballet.
“It is a form of dance and dance is a universal language,” he said.
Gleeson said the doors close at 7.30pm and the ticket is sold at P200.