The XII International Ballet Festival Mariinsky was launched on March 22 in St. Petersburg. The Mariinsky Theatre will present its best known productions of the recent years, including ballets that star foreign dancers.
The XII International Ballet Festival Mariinsky was launched on March 22 in St. Petersburg. The Mariinsky Theatre will present its best known productions of the recent years, including ballets that star foreign dancers. Photo: A scene from the ballet Ballet Imperial by Colleen Neary during the XII International Ballet Festival Mariinsky.
The festival was opened by the premiere of the revived one-act play Le Jeune Homme et la Mort (The Young Man and Death) by Roland Petit.
Mariinsky Theatre prima ballerina Yekaterina Kondaurova performed as Death, and Vladimir Shklyarov played The Young Man.
Luigi Bonino, stage director of the revived production, said Russian dancers looked constrained, but overcame that before the premiere. Kondaurova, for example, became a strong, sensual, and seductrive heroine.
The Prodigal Son by George Balanchine is another one-act ballet shown on the festival’s first day. Photo: Teresa Reichlen as The Siren and Daniel Ulbricht (background) as The Prodigal Son in a scene from the ballet The Prodigal Son by George Balanchine. The XII International Ballet Festival Mariinsky.
Teresa Reichlen and Daniel Ulbricht said it was especially important for them to perform the ballet in Russia, where its founder was born. Photo: Daniel Ulbricht as the Prodigal Son (right).
Viktoria Tereshkina and Timur Askerov performed in George Balanchine’s Ballet Imperial directed by Colleen Neary at the Mariinsky Theatre.
A gala concert featuring all Mariinsky Theatre stars will be held on April 1 to mark the festival’s closing. Photo: A scene from the ballet Ballet Imperial during the XII International Ballet Festival Mariinsky held in the Mariinsky Theatre.
