Swan Lake – Russian ballet at its best travelling to SA

Irina Kolesnikova, the mesmerising Prima Ballerina of the St Petersburg Ballet. Photo courtesy of SPBT.

We’ve heard it said that if you see only one ballet in your life, let it be Swan Lake. This traditional ballet classic is being brought to Johannesburg audiences in July by the internationally acclaimed St Petersburg Ballet Theatre, thrilling audiences with their classic Russian production of the world’s most famous and beautiful ballet.

The 55-member company of the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre will perform the full length classic with their own live orchestra – performing Tchaikovsky’s hauntingly beautiful melodies at the Teatro at Montecasino from 10 to 14 July.

The St Petersburg Ballet in Swan Lake Act II with Irina Kolesnikova dancing Odette.

Magnificent dancers and scenery

International producer, Andrew Guild said, “Not only do The St Petersburg Ballet Theatre bring their troupe of Vaganova trained dancers, they also bring their magnificent scenery; scenery that has audiences applauding even as the curtain rises, along with sumptuous costumes, dozens of dazzling white tutus and hundreds of pink pointe shoes.”

The St Petersburg Ballet Theatre was created in 1994 by Konstantin Tachkin, for the purpose of delivering classical Russian ballet to audiences worldwide. And in fact, they now spend almost nine months of every year traveling the world with their magnificent repertoire of full-length classics.

However, it has been a long six years since South Africans were last enchanted by this Russian company, and seats are expected to sell very quickly.

Here’s the final word from Andrew Guild:

“This is the real thing, grand-scale Russian Ballet. A complete classical full-length work. Backed by a live orchestra. This is Swan Lake, the world’s most-famous ballet, performed by one of Russia’s leading classical companies.”

“If you see only one ballet in your life, let it be this.”

Booking details:

Dates: 10 to 21 July 2013 (Update: Now extended to 27 July 2013)
Venue: The Teatro at Montecasino, Johannesburg
Tickets: R210 to R490 from Computicket

Prima Ballerina – The magnificent Irina Kolesnikova

This video shows an excerpt of prima ballerina Irina Kolesnikova as Odette. This live performance was filmed in April 2006 at the South African State Theatre in Pretoria, during the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre’s first ever tour of South Africa.

Tags: featured, Irina Kolesnikova, Konstantin Tachkin, Montecasino Teatro, Russian ballet, St Petersburg Ballet Theatre, Swan Lake, Vaganova

Category: Dance News