Beautifully convincing corps de ballet, but sometimes uninspired solos. Photo by Sarah Weyman.

Despite being the second largest theatre (in terms of seats) on the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre’s international tour – which includes 50 cities so far in 2013 – the Teatro at Johannesburg’s Montecasino doesn’t have a particularly large stage, made even smaller by the ballet company’s beautifully elaborate sets. Add the corps de ballet of 24 swans and there is little space left for the principals and soloists.

However, we don’t think any stage on the planet could restrain prima ballerina Irina Kolesnikova. Her stage presence is so dramatic and magnetic that everything else fades into unimportance as she glides onto the scene.

Irina Kolesnikova as Odette in Act II. Photo courtesy of SPBT.

And ‘glide’ she does. As the anguished Odette, her movements are feathery soft and smooth, and her portrayal was so touching and absorbing that my little heart actually ached in empathy of her pain.

As Odile, however, her wicked deception was fierce and electric (as were her fouettés). When her evil con was revealed and she laughingly threw Siegfried’s love on the floor, I caught myself whispering under my breath what the rest of the audience was surely thinking too: “Bitch”.

In fact, the split-personality contrast of Irina’s dual roles had the ballet newbies next to us confused and amazed, asking “did she really dance both white and black swans?”; followed by their excited wide-eyed realisation: “oh my god, so she has to dance and act!”

Yes, that’s how prima ballerinas roll.

But not everyone in the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre (SPBT) cast manages to get that right – although you’ll probably only notice this when Irina is off stage, because you’re not really watching anyone else when she’s on.

Letting the flock down

The strongest contrast to Irina’s masterful performance was probably her principal partner, Dmitri Akulinin performing Siegfried. A little like Neo in The Matrix, he seems to only ever have one expression. Whether he’s happy, sad, angry or triumphant, it’s the same wooden look.

Swan Lake final fight scene with Dmitri Akulinin and Von Rothbart. Photo courtesy of SPBT.

In his favour though, Dmitri does have strength and his pas de deux partnering was perfectly seamless, just don’t expect dramatic solos. Unfortunately the same can be said for most of the male soloists, who lacked personality, precision and punch. Particularly the jester (Erkin Rakhmatulaev) and tutor (Dmitri Shevtsov) appeared a little too rehearsed, occasionally anticipating the others’ gestures too soon, effectively stealing any sense of spontaneity.

The notable exception here would be Rothbart performed by Dimchik Saikeev, who was powerfully menacing, further enhanced by his excellent costume changes and eerie red-eyed make-up. But even Rothbart and Odette’s presence couldn’t save the final fight scene from Siegfried’s unconvincing triumph. “Oh. Look. Um. I think I tore off Rothbart’s wing.”

Four little swans in perfect timing. Photo by Sarah Weyman.

Flying in formation

Acting skills aside though, when it comes to drama, SPBT still delivers plenty with their grand sets, bejewelled costumes and then there’s the corps de ballet of mesmerising swans, so perfectly in time and in sync, moving together as if by Russian magic.

The four little swans were particularly brilliant with their strong and fast footwork and their tick-tock, up-down, left-right movements. See more photos from their rehearsals below.

Though the stage did, at times, seem a tad small for SPBT’s big production, Montecasino’s impressive Teatro is perhaps still the most appropriate venue for Swan Lake, with seats rising all the way up to the clouds. And with Tchaikovsky’s haunting melodies delivered by the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra, it made for a rich and dreamy ballet experience.

If you haven’t done so yet, I’d suggest you make quick about booking those tickets (here), as 75% of the seats were already sold prior to opening night. It may be a while before you get to see such a grand performance of Swan Lake in South Africa by such a ballet company in high demand around the world.

Also, find out all the fascinating behind-the-scenes facts in this Swan Lake ballet infographic.

Have you seen this ballet yet? What were your thoughts? Whether you agree or disagree, tell us in the comments below.

The best of the Swan Lake rehearsal photos…

Click on the first photo to open the gallery.

Irina Kolesnikova and Dmitri Akulinin in the Grand Ballroom Scene of Swan Lake Act III.

If you don’t have your tickets yet (seriously, what were you thinking?), you can now breathe a sigh of relief. But make it a short sigh and then go and book those seats quick-sticks, because this is the last and final extension before the swans fly off to Australia the very next day.

With less than a month before the premiere on Wednesday, 10 July 2013, the touring St Petersburg Ballet Theatre has added an additional six performances to its Johannesburg run of Swan Lake, after already adding extra dates last month.

Irina Kolesnikova as Odile from Act III.

Last chance shows:

• Sunday, 21 July 2013 at 1pm
• Sunday, 21 July 2103 at 6pm
• Thursday, 25 July 2013 at 8pm
• Friday, 26 July 2013 at 8pm
• Saturday, 27 July 2013 at 2pm
• Saturday, 27 July 2013 at 2pm

The international tour producer, Andrew Guild, says “this is the last time we will be able to add extra performances and although excellent new seats are now going to be available we anticipate that they will sell fast”.

And we don’t think he’s bluffing. The season was sold out the last time the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre (SPBT) performed Swan Lake in South Africa and he says “this time our ticket sales are even better when compared to the same lead-up period”.

In addition, this year we’ll see Swan Lake performed at The Teatro, Montecasino for the first time, with the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra led by the SPBT conductor, Vadim Nikitin.

You can read more about the production here: Swan Lake – Russian ballet at its best travelling to SA, or…

Book your tickets:

Dates: 10 to 27 July 2013
Venue: The Teatro at Montecasino, Johannesburg
Tickets: R210 to R490 from Computicket

Still here? Well okay, first watch this black swan variation by SPBT’s prima ballerina Irina Kolesnikova and then get your tickets. Dancers be warned, this video could cause serious symptoms of pirouette-envy.

South African dancer, Kathleen Videira, has competed in both the YAGP and the Cape Town International Ballet Competition. Photo by Pat Bromilow-Downing.

For aspiring young ballet dancers wanting to follow in Michaela DePrince or Joan Sebastian Zamora’s grand jeté steps – two dancers who excelled at the Youth America Grand Prix competition, as seen in the movie First Position – you’ll want to be at Montecasino in Johannesburg for South African auditions on Sunday 30 June.

The next Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) takes place in New York between 3 and 11 April 2014 and is one of the world’s largest student ballet scholarship competitions, awarding over $250 000 annually in scholarships to leading dance schools worldwide.

Ballet competition details:

The competition is open to dance students of all nationalities between the ages of 9 and 19 years old.

The auditions are not open to the general public, and will take the form of a classical ballet class to be given by Gennadi Saveliev, a former dancer of the world-renowned Bolshoi Ballet.

Gennadi and Larissa Saveliev launched the Youth America Grand Prix in 1999, with a mission to provide extraordinary educational and professional opportunities to young dancers and act as a stepping stone to a professional dance career.

Watch Gennadi Saveliev in action in this short video clip, where he danced a special performance for So You Think You Can Dance…

Now preparing for its 15th Season, YAGP has awarded over $2 million in scholarships to leading dance schools around the world and over 300 YAGP alumni are now dancing with 50 ballet companies, including New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, among others.

Audition details:

If you can see yourself competing in New York in April next year, then make sure to register yourself for the audition in Johannesburg at the end of June.

Date: Sunday, 30 June 2013 at 10am
Venue: Teatro at Montecasino, Johannesburg
Registration information: For more information or to register for the Johannesburg auditions, contact Jonathan Hurwitz on 011 877 6901 or jonathan@samzansiballet.com. You can also learn more about the competition on the YAGP website here.

And here’s one more video to enjoy – this one has some great backstage and onstage footage featuring dancers in the junior division (ages 12 to 14) at the 2012 YAGP finals.

Sadaise Arencibia and Arian Molina in a scene from Swan Lake. Photo courtesy of The National Ballet of Cuba

Covering east, west, north and south, the International Ballet Gala taking place in Johannesburg from 28 to 30 June brings us ballet stars from around the globe, including gold medallists and acclaimed dancers from far-flung regions such as Russia, South Korea, the USA and of course Cuba.

Alicia Alonso in 1955.

I say “of course” because this ballet production is Dirk Badenhorst’s way of saluting Madame Alicia Alonso, considered to be Cuba’s prima ballerina assoluta – an honorary title rather than an active rank considering that she is now in her nineties. Madame Alonso still directs the National Ballet of Cuba that she founded in 1948 and found an admirer in South African ballet entrepreneur Dirk Badenhorst ever since he began his close association with Cuban ballet in 2008.

Take a peek at who’s coming:

Dancers appearing in the galas are:

• Mariinsky Ballet, St Petersburg: Kimin Kim
• National Ballet of Cuba: Anette Delgado, Dani Hernández, Sadaise Arencibia, Arián Molina, Viengsay Valdes, José Losada
• Dutch National Ballet: Wen Ting Guan
• Dresden Ballet & Hungarian National Ballet: István Simon
• Columbia Classical Ballet, USA: Tamako Miyazaki
• The Washington Ballet: Maki Inuki, Brooklyn Mack
• English National Ballet: Aaron Smyth
• South African Mzansi Ballet: Burnise Silvius, Michael Revie, Shannon Glover, Jonathan Rodrigues, Luis de Castro, Randol Figueredo, Javier Monier, Ramiro Samón
• South Korea: Ga Yeon Jung

Brooklyn Mack from The Washington Ballet danced as Basilio in SA Mzansi Ballet’s 2013 production of Don Quixote.
Photo courtesy of South African Mzansi Ballet

What to expect:

The two gala programmes in the 5-performance only season include showpieces from Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, La Bayadére, Le Corsaire, Giselle, Don Quixote, Romeo and Juliet and more.

Of special interest to South African audiences will be the first ever performances in this country of the Balcony Pas de Deux from John Cranko’s version of Romeo and Juliet.  One of the great choreographers of the 20th century, SA-born John Cranko led the Stuttgart Ballet to international fame before his tragically early death at the age of 46 in 1973.

Get your tickets:

Dates: Friday 28 June at 8pm
Saturday 29 June at 3pm and 8pm
Sunday 30 June at 2pm and 6pm
Venue: The Teatro at Montecasino, Johannesburg
Tickets: From R90 to R400 from Computicket

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.