A Scene from The Flames of Paris

Get ready for a great dance experience via the Mikhailovsky Ballet, a company that combines classical tradition with a modern look, arriving at Lincoln Center’s Koch theater for an all-too-short engagement beginning November 11, 2014 and ending November 23.

The program includes classic works and ballets from the Soviet period as well as contemporary productions and brings soloists including the phenomenal Natalia Osipova, Ivan Vasiliev, and Leonid Sarafanov—all top-ranking international stars. This is the first time in the company’s history that it has toured in the United States, giving American audiences the opportunity to see the Mikhailovsky’s take on beloved works like Giselle and Don Quixote as well as critically-acclaimed but less often seen, The Flames of Paris. Also on the schedule, a grand overview of work in Three Centuries of Russian Ballet. These Russians are well and truly coming with a wealth of work.

Three Centuries of Russian Ballet, Dress Rehearsal | Photo © Lucas Miller

The company has a long, complex history. Prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Mikhailovsky Theater did not have its own resident company; instead, performances were given either by a French company, hired by the Russian Imperial Theaters, or at the end of the century, by the Mariinsky and Alexandrinsky Theaters where many great French actors appeared. When the Bolsheviks rose to power, the French company was forced to leave Russia and, in 1917, the Mikhailovsky Theater closed, to reopen in 1918 as an opera theater. Many management changes followed until, in the 1930s, Russian choreographer Fyodor Lopukhov founded the ballet company of the Theater. From 1989 to 2007 the Theater was known as Modest Mussorgsky, until it resumed its original name. Many great names in the world of ballet have been associated with this company including the young Giorgi Balanchivadze, later known as George Balanchine, who staged dances as part of Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera The Golden Cockerel and the first staging of the ballet The Bright Stream set to a score by Dmitry Shostakovich.

In 2013 the Mikhailovsky Theater celebrated the 180th anniversary of its founding and the 80th anniversary of its Ballet Company. Dance aficionados have a rare opportunity in store.

A Scene from Prelude

Schedule

GISELLE, OU LES WILIS     Conductor – Pavel Klinichev

Giselle, Albert, Mirtha

Nov. 11, 7:30 pm Natalia Osipova, Leonid Sarafanov, Ekaterina Borchenko

Nov. 12, 2:00 pm Anastasia Soboleva, Victor Lebedev, Irina Kosheleva

Nov. 12, 7:30 pm Angelina Vorontsova, Ivan Vasiliev, Ekaterina Borchenko

Nov. 13, 7:30 pm Natalia Osipova, Leonid Sarafanov, Ekaterina Borchenko

THE FLAMES OF PARIS     Conductor: Pavel Bubelnikov; only 11/15 mat = Valentin Bogdanov

Jeanne, Philippe, Diana Mireille, Antoine Mistral

Nov. 14, 7:30 pm Oksana Bondareva, Ivan Vasiliev, Irina Perren, Leonid Sarafanov

Nov. 15, 2:00 pm Angelina Vorontsova, Ivan Zaytsev, Ekaterina Borchenko, Victor Lebedev

Nov. 15, 8:00 pm Oksana Bondareva, Ivan Vasiliev, Irina Perren, Leonid Sarafanov

Nov. 16, 2:00 pm Angelina Vorontsova, Ivan Vasiliev, Irina Perren, Leonid Sarafanov

Three Centuries of Russian Ballet, Dress Rehearsal | Photo © Lucas Miller

THREE CENTURIES OF RUSSIAN BALLET: LE HALTE DE CAVALERIE; CLASS CONCERT; PRELUDE     Conductor – Marius Stravinsky

November 18 and 19, 7:30 pm

Le Halte De Cavalerie: Angelina Vorontsova (18) / Anastasia Soboleva (19); Ivan Vasiliev (18) / Leonid Sarafanov (19)

Class Concert: Natalia Osipova, Ivan Vasiliev, Leonid Sarafanov, Angelina Vorontsova, Anastasia Soboleva, Victor Lebedev, Ekaterina Borchenko, IvanZaytsev

Prelude: Irina Perren, Leonid Sarafanov, Marat Shemiunov

DON QUIXOTE     Conductor: Pavel Klinichev (11/20, 11/22m, 11/23; Marius Stravinsky (11/21, 11/22e)

Kitri, Basil, The Queen of Dryads

Nov. 20, 7:30 pm Natalia Osipova, Ivan Vasiliev, Ekaterina Borchenko

Nov. 21, 7:30 pm Angelina Vorontsova, Victor Lebedev, Ekaterina Borchenko

Nov. 22, 2:00 pm Oksana Bondareva, Leonid Sarafanov, Svetlana Bednenko

Nov. 22, 8:00 pm Angelina Vorontsova, Ivan Vasiliev, Ekaterina Borchenko

Nov. 23, 2:00 pm Natalia Osipova, Ivan Vasiliev, Svetlana Bednenko

The Mikhailovsky Theater