Kirov Ballet in Berlin, Germany (July 4-8, 2000)

Fact - May 10, 2000

The Kirov Ballet Performs in Berlin, Germany, July 4 - 8, 2000

The Kirov will present three different programs at the Deutsche Oper, Berlin: Jewels (July 4), La Bayadère (July 5, 6), and Swan Lake (July 7, 8 - matinee and evening)

For ticket information, please use the link below to the website of the Deutsche Oper.

Jewels, which will be performed only once in Berlin, has just recently entered the repertoire of the Kirov Ballet. (It was premiered last October at the Maryinsky Theatre to great acclaim.) The choreography is by George Balanchine and this three-part, plotless ballet was created for New York City Ballet in 1967. Set to music by three different composers (Fauré, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky), the title derives from the fact that for each part the dancers are dressed like precious stones (emeralds, rubies, and diamonds). Presenting a great variety in its choreography, Jewels provides wonderful opportunities for leading couples, soloists, as well as corps de ballet.

With La Bayadère and Swan Lake the Kirov Ballet will also present two of the most popular classics in the repertoire. La Bayadère, with a choreography by Marius Petipa and set to music by Ludwig Minkus, was premiered in St. Petersburg in 1877. The Kirov's Bayadère is unique in that it preserves the original scenery used at the first staging of the piece at the Maryinsky Theatre in the early 20th century. The ill-fated story of the Indian temple-dancer Nikiya provides the perfect frame for a ballet full of drama, exotic locations, colourful character dances, and above all classical dance of the purest kind. The last Act or 'The Kingdom of the Shades' is one of Petipa's masterpieces and indeed one of the most beguiling scenes in the whole repertoire, fully displaying the unique qualities of the reputed Kirov corps de ballet.

Swan Lake is the quintessential romantic classical ballet. The Kirov brings Tchaikovsky's best-loved ballet in the production of Konstantin Sergeyev, based on the original Petipa/Ivanov staging premiered at the Maryinsky Theatre in 1895, and considered by many as the definitive account of the work.

Kirov Ballet performance diary with principal casting (liable to change):

4 July - JEWELS:
Emeralds : Zhanna Ayupova, Nikolai Godunov, Veronika Part, Dmitri Simeonov;
Pas de Trois: Yulia Kassenkova, Xenia Ostreikovskaya, Anton Korsakov
Rubies: Diana Vishneva, Andrian Fadeev, Maya Dumchenko, Anton Pimonov, Anton Lukovkin, Vassili Shcherbakov, Maxim Khrebtov
Diamonds: Uliana Lopatkina, Igor Zelensky, Jana Serebriakova, Xenia Ostreikovskaya, Jana Selina, Tatiana Nekipelova, Nikolai Godunov, Sergei Salikov, Dmitri Pykhachev, Denis Firsov

5 July - LA BAYADÈRE: Veronika Part (Nikiya), Evgeni Ivanchenko (Solor), Elvira Tarassova (Gamzatti)

6 July - LA BAYADÈRE: Yulia Makhalina (Nikiya), Igor Zelensky (Solor), Tatiana Amosova (Gamzatti)

7 July - SWAN LAKE: Svetlana Zakharova (Odette/Odile), Igor Kolb (Prince Siegfried)

8 July (matinee) - SWAN LAKE: Daria Pavlenko (Odette/Odile), Danila Korsuntsev (Prince Siegfried)

8 July (evening) - SWAN LAKE: Uliana Lopatkina (Odette/Odile), Igor Zelensky (Prince Siegfried)

Deutsche Oper ticket information for the Kirov performances

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