Inaugural Russian Art Exhibit Brings Classic Tales to Canvas

For years Moscow Ballet has brought to life on stage classic ballet and holiday tales, the Great Russian Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and more. And with strokes of a paint brush, individual scenes from these stories are coming to life now, too. In anticipation of its 18^th annual North American tour, Moscow Ballet has hand-selected a group of Russia’s rising contemporary artists to capture images from these beloved ballets on canvas.

Tatyana Kalin, Alexandra Nedzvetskaya, Diana Taran and Eugene Ivanov, chosen with assistance from a representative of the St. Petersburg (Repin) Academy of Art in Russia, have created original paintings in honor of the 100th anniversary of the life and legacy of Marius Petipa, known as the “Father of Russian Ballet,” whose choreography brought The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty (among others) from storybooks to the Russian stage in the late 1800s.

The new artwork was premiered on Sept. 4 at VGOGH Gallery in Kingston, PA. Guests at the reception were the first to view the original paintings depicting different characters and scenes from The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. These artistically acclaimed story ballets, all of which have been featured over the past 18 years among Moscow Ballet’s performances, served as the inspiration for the four rising Russian artists. The works celebrate vibrant Russian art, and further enhance the brilliance and beauty of the Russian classical ballets on which they are based.

You can view this artwork on our website, at http://www.nutcracker.com/Platinum_Package.php.

The gallery opening reception also featured Moscow Ballet Soloist Svetlana Todinova, who treated guests to a brief demonstration of classical ballet.

One-hundred limited edition giclée prints of the original paintings are available to the public as part of Moscow Ballet’s Platinum Print and Ticket Package—this package also includes tickets for the “best seats in the house,” preferred parking and early seating at the venue, the chance to meet one of our Russian soloist dancers, and a Moscow Ballet “Founding Member” benefits card.

For more information and to purchase tickets for Moscow Ballet’s upcoming Great Russian Nutcracker tour, go to www.nutcracker.com or call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000.

The Great Russian Nutcracker offers dance styles from around the world – soloist Nataliya dances the Chinese Variation!

Moscow Ballet Dancer and Instructor Nataliya Miroshynk to Tour US in Talent Search

Dance Students backstage before a Great Russian Nutcracker Performance

Dance auditions can be a nerve-wracking experience. But they can also be fun and rewarding, as is the case with dance auditions for Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker. Educational, too! Dance auditions for the Nutcracker Ballet, a beloved holiday tradition, carry with them the opportunity to get one-on-one instruction from a classically trained, Russian Ballet dancer.

Nataliya Miroshnyk

Moscow Ballet’s Nataliya Miroshnyk, who charms audiences each year with her dancing of the athletic Chinese variation in Act II of The Great Russian Nutcracker, will tour the US in search of young talent. It’s time to put all of those class hours spent in toe shoes and practicing lifts to work! Dance auditions for the Nutcracker Ballet are held at studios across the country. To find an audition near you, click here.

Ballerinas in toe shoes as well as young men who aspire to be ballet masters are encouraged to attend the dance auditions. Being cast means being backstage at the ballet—and then performing with Moscow Ballet’s greatest dancers in The Great Russian Nutcracker ! Dancing with Nataliya in the Chinese Variation is something every young ballet dancer will remember for a lifetime.

Little Snow Princesses ready to go on stage

Nataliya, a graduate of the Kiev Academic Choreographic School in Ukraine where she trained under AG Kalchenko, has spent plenty of time in her toe shoes. And she knows well the excitement dancing the Variations of cultures can  bring. Her solo performances include (of course!) The Great Russian Nutcracker as well as La Bayadere and Don Quixote.

As dance auditions for Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker and Swan Lake take place across the US, Nataliya will look for ballet dancers with dedication to the craft. The young ballerinas in toe shoes and men with strong, graceful moves that Nataliya and her fellow dancers select will be part of a professional performance experience. Moscow Ballet is known as the largest and longest running tour of the The Great Russian Nutcracker, a family holiday tradition around the world. What a great way to be introduced to performing live!

Student dancers in Moscow Ballet’s Swan Lake

Moscow Ballet audition information for The Great Russian Nutcracker and Swan Lake can be found here. For a list of participating dance studios by state click here.

Tickets are now on sale for Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker and Swan Lake in most cities and start at $27.50. Buy

Nationwide Audition Call For Moscow Ballet!

Talent Search Is On For Great Russian Nutcracker and Swan Lake

Tatiana Casian

The Great Russian Nutcracker and Swan Lake is coming to a city near you! Moscow Ballet ballerina Tatiana Casian is among the Russian contingency that will tour the US in search of local youth to dance selected roles in Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker and Swan Lake.

Moscow Ballet, known as the longest and largest annual touring company of The Great Russian Nutcracker, offers a once-in-a-lifetime chance for youth across the country to learn from classically trained Russian dancers. Tatiana will tour the country along with fellow Moscow Ballet dancers and teachers to cast talent in the acclaimed Nutcracker Ballet and Swan Lake.

The Great Russian Nutcracker and Swan Lake, each holiday traditions, offer numerous opportunities for young dancers. Dance auditions are being held in dance studios across the country. For a list of dates and studios near you, click here and sign up today!

Tatiana Casian in Swan Lake and in lovely form!

The dance auditions offer the opportunity to learn from Tatiana, Anna, Svetlana and Nataliya dancers in The Great Russian Nutcracker and Swan Lake. Those who attend the dance auditions and are selected will then experience first hand what it’s like to rehearse and be backstage at the professional ballet.

Dance auditions and being backstage at the ballet are second nature to Moscow Ballet Great Russian Nutcracker and Swan Lake star Tatiana Casian. She charms audiences each year with her dancing of the athletic Chinese variation in Act II of The Great Russian Nutcracker. For Tatiana, the Nutcracker Ballet and Swan Lake have become holiday traditions all their own. She’s toured throughout the world with these productions and other story ballets such as Giselle and Sleeping Beauty.

Along with her Moscow Ballet solo roles, she also enjoys the dance audition process, touring the US to find the young ballet stars of tomorrow. Nutcracker Ballet and Swan Lake dance auditions offer her the opportunity to see first-hand young protégés, those eager for a life in ballet and who thrill at the opportunity to dance with The Dove of Peace each year.

Tatiana Casian, center, in waltz of the Great Russian Nutcracker

In her free time Tatiana loves to play and dance with her young daughter, maybe the next generation of Russian principal dancers!  In her spare time, not only does Tatiana dance beautiful patterns, she also knits and embroiders intricate Russian patterns for herself and daughter.

Find out more about all 4 Moscow Ballet audition teachers for The Great Russian Nutcracker and Swan Lake here. For a list of participating dance studios by state click here.

Tickets are now on sale for Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker in most cities and start at $27.50. Buy tickets online at www.nutcracker.com or call Ticketmaster 800.745.3000 and ask for a performance near you.

Meet the multi-talented Anna Tyutyunnyk; Not only a Russian Dancer!

Anna Tyutyunnykk

Moscow Ballet’s Russian dance instructor Anna Tyutyunnyk, a native of Odessa in Ukraine, is a graduate from and soloist with Odessa National Theatre of Opera and Ballet.  She has been dancing since the age of four and has also performed with the Crown of Russian Ballet and the New Imperial Ballet, both in Moscow. In addition to her skill in ballet, Anna is fluent in four languages. She loves to travel and has been in almost all of the major cities in the US on her Moscow Ballet tours. She also loves fashion – of course!

In the Nutcracker, she has been cast as Masha, danced the Chinese and French Variations, and has also played a Party Guest, Snowflake and the Snow Maiden. In 2010 Anna will dance the role of the Dove of Peace. Other repertoire includes Swan Lake, La Bayadere, La Sylphide, and Don Quixote.

Anna will audition and work one-on-one with talented young dancers across Canada and the US. She will be in Missuola, Calgary, Medicine Hat, Regina, Saskatoon, Surrey, Yakima, Minneapolis, Rochester MN, Fargo, Grand Forks, Winnipeg and Thunder Bay. Anna is the only teacher on the 2010 tour to audition dancers for the Great Russian Nutcracker and for Swan Lake. Those students who audition for Swan Lake must be twelve years to sixteen years old and must have pointe experience.  She loves working with young dancers and watching them develop from year to year.

Meet your Moscow Ballet dance instructor ~ Svetlana Todinova

Svetlana Todinova as the 'Dove of Peace'

Svetlana Todinova dances the Dove of Peace, among other roles, in Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker in her beautifully graceful and light style. Click here to see Svetlana dance. She is also a familiar Moscow Ballet dance instructor auditioning and rehearsing young dance students as they prepare for their roles in the charming holiday performances. Svetlana arrives in the United States in late August with the three other Russian dance instructors and with her young daughter Polina too! She is very excited to be returning to some of her favorite cities in North America and to seeing new cities and making new friends at each dance studio.

Svetlana is trained in the world-renowned, classic Russian ballet style and shows her long lines, amazing strength and graceful jumps and turns every time she is on stage. She is happy to be a role model for American youth.  Svetlana completed formal training in 1997 at the Ufa Choreography School, where the very famous Rudolf Nureyev was also a student. While dancing with the State Opera Ballet of Krasnodar, Svetlana trained with Yuri Gregorovich, who is world-renowned for his dynamic productions at the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre. Maybe she will share some trade secrets that she learned from Mr. Gregorovich with her students in rehearsal!

Svetlana perfecting her technique in the studio

Touring with Moscow Ballet is not the first time Svetlana has traveled as a ballerina. Earlier in her career she toured with the Russian Academy of Ballet Art performing around the world including Holland, China, Spain, Italy, England, and the USA. Her repertory includes Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty, Paganini, La Bayadere, Carmen, Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker. Now that is a lot of choreography to remember! She has danced as a soloist with Moscow Ballet since 2006. Click here to see Svetlana in Moscow Ballet’s production of Sleeping Beauty as Little Red Riding Hood!

Svetlana will host auditions and rehearse with the selected dancers in the following cities: Bethesda, Virginia Beach, Durham, Dallas, Rochester NY, Wilkes-Barre, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Detroit, Ashland sold, Charleston WV, and N Charleston SC. Click here to find an audition in your city!

Moscow Ballet Announces the Platinum Package and Fine Art Gallery

The 2010 Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker tour is a landmark occasion for us at the company. Not only is this one of the largest and longest Great Russian Nutcracker tours to date, but we are launching a brand new project!

A fanciful rendering of the Waltz of the Flowers

We are proud to announce the Moscow Ballet Fine Art Gallery!
Moscow Ballet has selected visual artists who represent the contemporary sensibilities practiced in Russian visual art to create oil paintings in honor of the 100th anniversary of the “Father of Russian Ballet” Marius Petipa’s life and legacy. The first artists tapped whos work will be featured are Tatyana Kalyn, Alexandra Nedzvetskaya, Eugene Ivanov and Diane Taran. Their commissioned paintings are inspired by Petipa’s artistically acclaimed story ballets:  Swan Lake, Nutcracker, and Sleeping Beauty, all of which have been presented by Moscow Ballet in North America hundreds of times over 18 years.
Learn more about the artists here.

An abstracted vision of a Russian Ballerina

The original prints will be available exclusively to patrons purchasing the Platinum Package. The Platinum Package contains tickets for the best seats, a limited edition print from the Gallery, a meet and greet with Moscow Ballet Great Russian Nutcracker soloists, as well as the Founding Members card. The prints will undergo the process of giclée printing with archival inks and substrate, and no more than 100 prints of each painting will be created.  Only 7 pairs of Platinum Package tickets will be available at each performance.

The St. Petersburg Academy of Arts Foundation, representing artists from the famed Repin school located in St. Petersburg, is assisting Moscow Ballet in the selection of relevant painters for this project.  Established in 1757 by Catherine the Great and known by many names: Academy of Arts of the USSR, Imperial Academy of the Arts, Ilya Repin Leningrad Institute for Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, the Repin Institute of Arts, and the St. Petersburg Academy of the Arts, the Academy remains one of the greatest sources of classic and contemporary Russian Art and Culture.

You can learn much more about the artists as well as see the available art work in detail by visiting us at:

www.nutcracker.com/platinum

A proffessor at the Repin Institute, Alexandra is at the forefront of the Russian art scene.

As a Platinum patron, you will be assigned your personal Platinum Curator, Bobbie, who can help you pick your painting and answer any question you may have regarding the performance or the Gallery. Please do not hesitate to give Bobbie a call at 1 800 320 1733.

The Platinum Print Package is $350 per ticket. For the best seats and to choose your print, call Moscow Ballet  Platinum Curator Bobbie at 800-320-1733.   Regular Tickets are also on sale for Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker and start at $27.50. Buy online at www.nutcracker.com or call Ticketmaster 800.745.3000 and ask for a performance near you.

The Great Russian Nutcracker and Swan Lake’s ~ Costume Drama!

Moscow Ballet’s 2010Tour Features Costumes from Award-Winning Costume Designer Olga Dumova

Father Christmas and Snow Maiden

Award-winning, international costume designer Olga Dumova, acclaimed for her unique technique of combining theatrical design with Russian history, will create new costumes for the 2010 North American tour of Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker and Swan Lake.

Dumova’s sumptuous costumes are exclusive to Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker and Swan Lake and those who reserve their seats now are in for a rich visual feast. The 80 members of the Russian classically trained troupe who perform Nutcracker and Swan Lake matinee and evening performances, bring Dumova’s beautiful creations to life as battling mice, snowflakes, Arabian princes and many more. The highly ornamental costumes each display opulence and grandeur, a costuming tradition that dates back hundreds of years in Russia.

Snow Maidens Costume

Great Russian Nutcracker and Swan Lake tickets will make one-of-a-kind Christmas gifts this year. Dumova’s costumes, which draw upon fashion’s haute couture, will be worn in the Great Russian Nutcracker by Moscow Ballet’s exclusive Father Christmas (Ded Moroz) and his daughter the Snow Maiden (Snigorochka). Check out the handwork!

Close up of the sequins detail

Audiences across the US and Canada will have plenty of opportunity to see Dumova’s detailed work since Moscow Ballet’s production of The Great Russian Nutcracker and Swan Lake tours to 70 cities throughout North America. It’s well worth the price to get orchestra seats to see Dumova’s detailed beading and hand-sewn trimming work up close!

Close up of Hat Detail

In addition to Moscow Ballet’s productions, Dumova also does costume work for the finest theatrical groups in the world including Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre of Opera and Ballet, the Strasburg Theatre in France and the Hermitage Youth Center in St Petersburg, Russia, to name a few. Prestigious awards and recognition include First Place at “Eve’s Rib” International Exhibition, in Moscow.

Tickets are now on sale for Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker and Swan Lake and start at $27.50. Buy online at www.nutcracker.com or call Ticketmaster 800.745.3000 and ask for a performance near you.

Valentin Federov:The artist who makes the GREAT RUSSIAN NUTCRACKER puppets, animals and sets come alive with childlike whimsy!

Moscow Skyline backdrop – opening scene

While Ballet Master Vladimir Troschenko tours the Riviera, Spain and Portugal with his acclaimed Swan Lake, Moscow Ballet Scenic Designer Valentin Fedorov works on the imaginative sets and puppetry that come to life in the Great Russian Nutcracker. Exclusive to Moscow Ballet’s Nutcracker is the very first scene, set to the music of the overture, in which Magician/Uncle Drosselmeyer enchants children with a puppet show that he magically brings to life.

Masha’s bedroom – with artists at work

Artist Federov created the whimsical puppet theatre and puppets as well as the iconic Moscow skyline behind the dancers. Federov is also the artist behind Masha’s delightful bedroom with it’s larger-than-life toys and where the Mice Army battle and injure her beloved Prince Nutcracker. Federov also created the fanciful world of Peace and Harmony, an homage to Henri Matisse’ wonderfully childlike and colorful jungle scenes.

Chinese Dragon puppet in Chinese variation

Federov is also the creator of the 6 to 8 foot tall puppets in Act II’s Land of Peace and Harmony which represent animals from each couples’ region. The Russian dancers are accompanied by a Bear, the Spainards by a Bull, Chinese have their red and yellow Dragon, the French Unicorns and the Arabians are given two animals – a lion and an elephant. The animals are friendly and dance along with their human counterparts.

Valentin Federov, set and puppet designer

The talented Federov hails from the small. central Russian republic Chuvash which has a long history of puppet making. In fact, he was given the title “Honored Artist of Chuvashia.” At the Moscow Artistic Academic Theatre, Fedorov studied under the legendary designer Valery Leventhal, of Bolshoi Ballet fame, and he has been the art director at the Chuvashia State Theatre of Opera and Ballet since 1988. There he designed more than 40 productions for opera and ballet to critical acclaim. Moscow Ballet is proud to add Federov’s charming sets and puppets to the whimsical and imaginative storytelling that sets Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker apart from others.

For more picture’s of the drops & puppets, go to our facebook page- http://www.facebook.com/nutcracker.moscowballet?v=photos#!/album.php?aid=15357&id=117148474970862

Tickets are now on sale for this family Holiday tradition and start at $27.50. Buy tickets online at www.nutcracker.com or call Ticketmaster 800.745.3000 and ask for a performance near you!

Moscow Ballet commemorates the 100th anniversary of Marius Petipa’s life and legacy with Commissioned Russian Art for the Great Russian Nutcracker and Swan Lake 2010 Tour

A Tapestry of Cultures – Petipa, The Father of Russian Ballet

Marius Petipa

Today is the 100^th anniversary of the passing of Marius Petipa, known as the Father of Russian Ballet. Born March 11, 1818 in France and died in what is now Ukraine (former Russian Empire), July 14, 1910,  Petipa is nearly unanimously cited to be the most influential balletmaster and choreographer that has ever lived and is credited, along with Lev Ivanov, as the original choreographer for the traditional holiday ballet we all know and love, The Nutcracker.

Lydia Rubtsova as Marianna, Stanislava Belinskaya as Clara, and Vassily Stukolkin as Fritz, in the original production of The Nutcracker. Imperial Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, 1892

In recognition of Petipa’s vast contributions to Russian ballet and culture, Moscow Ballet is selecting Russian artists who represent the contemporary sensibilities in Russian visual art to create limited edition paintings. These new works will be inspired by three of Petipa’s artistically acclaimed story ballets:  Swan Lake,The Nutcracker, and Sleeping Beauty- all of which Moscow Ballet performs on it’s annual tours of North America.  The St. Petersburg Academy of the Arts Foundation (Repin), representing

artists from the famed school of the same name, is assisting Moscow Ballet in the selection of relevant painters.  The first two artists to be contracted for this project are: Tatyana Kalin(also Kalyn) and Alexandra Nedzvetskaya.

Marius Petipa is considered one of the greatest choreographers of all time. Petipa elevated the Russian ballet to international fame and laid the cornerstone for 20th Century ballet. His classicism integrated the purity of the

Ekaterina Bortyakova as Masha and Akzhol Mussakorov as Nutcracker Prince with Corps de Ballet in 2009 Tour of Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker

French school with Italian virtuosity. Noted for his long career as Premier Maître de Ballet of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres, a position he held from 1871 until 1903, the value of his accomplishments is inestimable.

Petipa produced more than sixty full-evening ballets and innumerable shorter. Petipa’s original ballets, some of which have survived in versions either faithful to, inspired by, or reconstructed from the original, include: The Pharaoh’s Daughter (1862); Don Quixote (1869); La Bayadère (1877); The Sleeping Beauty (1890); The Nutcracker (attributed to Lev Ivanov and  Petipa ) (1892); and Raymonda (1898). He also revived a substantial number of works created by other Ballet  Masters and his productions became the definitive versions from which nearly all subsequent revivals are based — Le Corsaire, Giselle, La Esmeralda, Coppélia, La Fille Mal Gardée (with Lev Ivanov), The Little Humpbacked Horse and Swan Lake (with Lev Ivanov).

Tickets for the 2010North American tour of Swan Lake and The Nutcracker are now available. Click here to find a performance near you. The limited-edition prints are available when purchasing the “Platinum Ticket Package.”

Moscow Ballet’s Swan Lake

While Moscow Ballet’s Vladimir Troschenko delivers his elegant Swan Lake to 61 cities in Europe…here is a fab review from the 2007 North American tour…

The fast-moving production of Swan Lake was elegant, exciting and breathtakingly beautiful.

Swan Lake Soloists Anna Dorosh and Maksim Chepik

Soloists and the troupe presented a youthful — most of the dancers are in their mid-20s — and dynamic show for the near sell-out audience.

This version of the world’s most famous ballet is staged by artistic director Vladimir Troschenko, a former partner to legendary Russian ballerinas such as Nadia Pavlova, Ludmilla Seminyaka and Galina Mezentseva. He carries on their long and soulful legacy.

Troschenko has created a moving sculpture garden where Russian passion is clear for everyone to see, especially in the tall proud bearing of so many manly dancers, and the exquisite, broadly open upper torsos of the women, who hold their arms delicately and high, and attack each step with precision.

Swan Lake tells the story of a young maiden, Odette, who is under the spell of evil sorcerer von Rothbart, who has condemned her and others like her to be swans by day and human at night. Odette, the Swan Queen, can only break the spell by having a young man swear his undying love for her.

If unfaithful, she will be trapped forever.

Prince Siegfried longs for love, but his mother tells him he must choose a bride from among the princesses invited to his 21st birthday. Unimpressed, he leaves the ball and goes into the forest to hunt with his friends, sees the maidens near a lake and falls deeply in love with the queen. He pledges to free her from the spell but, back at the party, is tricked by von Rothbart and chooses his daughter Odile instead. Discovering his error, he rushes back to the forest, battles Von Rothbart and is reunited with his love.

'The Dying Swan' Soloists Anna Dorosh and Maksim Chepik

Maria Makarenko is simply beautiful in the dual role of swan (Odette) and sorcerer’s daughter (Odile). Trapped in the body of a bird, her movements of back, head and neck are extraordinarily supple, while the articulation of her hands and feet is lovely. The tall Zavalishin (who happens to be her husband in real life) makes a handsome Prince, but he has little to do but show her off until halfway through the second act, when he delivers some splendid clean leaps.

While Swan Lake is one of the most technically demanding ballets for a ballerina, the remarkable Makarenko manages her moments of unsupported balance with ease, and is in total control of her dozens of whip-sharp spins. The passionate pas de deux with her and the Prince are irresistibly romantic and tender. She is velvet smooth.

'Swan Lake' Soloists Anna Dorosh and Maksim Chepik and the 'corps de ballet'

The corps de ballet — a flock of 18 swans — shows off its precision, delicacy and harmony of line, while standing with feathers quivering in unison, folding themselves up like fluffy goslings, preening, gliding across the stage with tiny pitter-patter steps, or posing in a stunning tableau

While the original version is more than four hours long, this staging has been artfully edited to just over two, yet it still manages to run the gamut of human emotion from elation to despair, purity to corruption, melancholy to joy. It grabs the audience at the beginning and doesn’t let it go — although the ending is not what everyone might expect.

Performances in Russia and Cuba often have happy endings and in this version the Swan Queen doesn’t die. Frankly, I miss that cathartic moment. It feels a touch saccharine when the evil von Rothbart is vanquished and the loving couple appear headed toward marital bliss. But the essence of the story is the same.

By Victoria Times Colonist, edited version
Go to nutcracker.com to find a Swan Lake or Great Russian Nutcracker performance near you in 2010.