The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!

The Flames of Paris.
Photo by Stas Levshin

The Flames of Paris. 
Photo by Stas Levshin

Not just any Russians, of course, but the Mikhailovsky Ballet Company is visiting us from St. Petersburg.

There was a time when a visit from a Russian ballet company and the subsequent defections of its dancers to the West was viewed as a Cold War triumph. These days a touring Russian troupe simply offers the chance to witness part of a grand tradition of superlative dance.

Don Quixote. Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev. Photo by Stas Levshin

The 80 year old Mikhailovsky Ballet Company has never been state-side before. When it aarives on November 11th for its stay at the David H. Koch Theater on Lincoln Center's campus through November 23rd,   consider this your  opportunity to enjoy great dance programs from its varied repertoire.

Don Quixote. Photo by Nikolay Krusser

The Company will play to a live orchestra for its 15 performances in New York. From there it goes to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in California from November 28th through the 30th.

The Mikhailovsky Theatre, where Fyodor Lopukhov founded the Ballet Company in 1933, had hosted many an opera and ballet in the 100 years it had already been in existence.  Its long and storied history included the  George Balanchine choreography of a Rimsky-Korsikov opera in 1923.  Since its official founding as a Ballet Company at the Mikhailovsky Theatre by Lopukhov, the Company has had an outstanding number of top Ballet Masters at its helm.  The Ballet Company staged the premiere of  Lopukhov's production of Dmitry Shostakovich’s The Bright Stream in 1935

Today, the Ballet Company is home to world class Principal Dancers and is headed by Ballet Master in Chief Mikhail Messerer. It blends tradition with modernity in its productions and will bring a sampling to its US tour, including "Three Centuries of Russian Ballet" which will feature choreography from Petipa, Asaf Messerer, and Nacho Duato among others.

November 15th matinee commentary: at Tand B On The Aisle on wordpress

For more information about The Mikhailovsky Theatre and its  Ballet Company, visit The Mikhailovsky Theatre Ballet
For tickets and programs, please visit http://www.davidhkochtheater.com/moreinfoMB.html

Thank you, Boston Ballet for Visiting

The Boston Ballet brought their 50th year party to Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater with two alternating programs of varied masterworks. The oldest choreography was from the Vaslav Nijinsky oeuvre, and the newest from José Martinez which had its world premiere at their home in February of this year.

The Boston Ballet's rendering of George Balanchine's "Symphony in Three Movements" is as perky and fresh of face as the expert youngsters in the company. The dancers are skilled; their presentation is precise and fluid. In a beautifully executed version of the Balanchine classic, John Lam is a standout.
Also commendable are the orchestra, under the leadership of conductor Jonathan McPhee, whose vigorous performance of the Igor Stravinsky score contributed to a magnificent production.

The wildly theatrical Nijinsky "Afternoon of a Faun" is brought to life by Altan Dugaraa's marvellous titular beast. The costumes and sets by Leon Bakst hearken to the lavish original. 

Resident choreographer, Jorma Elo fashioned "Plan to B" for the Boston Ballet in 2004 (a year before he took up his residency.) It is a powerful and exciting work set to the music of Heinrich von Biber.

"The Second Detail," set to the electronic pulses of Thom Willems, has a rehearsal atmosphere at once casual and formalistic. The troupe, as always, gives a superb performance of the complicated movements.

José Martinez contributes a very classic and classy piece, set to Liszt and played by solo pianos (Alex Foaksman and Frieda Locker) with the music coming from both sides of the stage. "Resonance" is simply gorgeous to hear and watch.

In Boston? Visit the Boston Ballet website, http://www.bostonballet.org/  for tickets. For more about the history of the company, see their Wikipedia listing.