On 24 and 25 June in Sao Paulo, as part of the Russian Seasons project, students of the Vaganova Ballet Academy performed on stage of Theatro São Pedro – one of the oldest and most beautiful theater venues in the city.
Before the evening commenced, the Rector of the Vaganova Ballet Academy, People’s Artist of Russia Nikolai Tsiskaridze and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Federative Republic of Brazil Alexey Labetsky appeared on stage to say welcoming words.
Nikolai Tsiskaridze:
“Today the citizens of Sao Paulo are meeting the oldest Ballet School in the world. And everything that is known in the world as “classical ballet” was, in one way or another, choreographed by those people who either worked or studied at this school. All this was done in Russia – just in this very educational institution, which today reached Brazil to present its art. Obviously, we brought the classical program – those pieces that, I believe, are known in different parts of the world thanks to the video footage. But I don’t think that the Brazilian audience have ever watched them in the form and with the cast they see them today.” .
Alexey Labetsky:
“Russian Seasons” in Brazil – a country that is our strategic partner – is a symbol of developing our relations not only in the economic and political spheres, but also in the field of culture, links between public organizations, and our peoples as a whole. Therefore we are proud to welcome here the best of our country’s cultural achievements. And above all – Russian ballet, which is highly valued in Brazil. First and foremost, the School from St. Petersburg and Nikolai Maksimovich Tsiskaridze, who brought his students here… This was Diaghilev who for the first time brought the ballet classics to Rio de Janeiro a century ago. And now we are bringing the heirs of Russian classical ballet, who have raised this art to unfancied heights.”
Vaganova Ballet Academy is one of the oldest and most reputable ballet schools in the world, the first Russian professional dance school, founded in 1738. This year the Academy celebrates 286 years of its foundation. This is the first time when its students crossed the ocean to reach Brazil.
The gala concert program featured the masterpieces of the classical repertoire – ballets of the late 19th – early 20th centuries, the creators of which were in this or that way linked with the Vaganova Academy. The eye-catching fragments of famous ballets presented in the program demonstrated the wide range of the Academy students’ technical and artistic skills. In total, about 50 students of different ages took to the stage of Theatro São Pedro.
The first part included vivid fragments of this year’s Academy graduation concert. It included: Pas d’action from the ballet The Naiad and the Fisherman, the Blue Bird and Princess Florine Pas de deux, Pas de quatre Rosary from the ballet The Awakening of Flora, fragments from the ballet The Sleeping Beauty: Puss in Boots and White Cat, Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf.
The second part featured an incredibly colorful Suite from the ballet The Fairy Doll to the music of Josef Bayer, Riccardo Drigo, Cesar Pugni. The Fairy Doll is a restored version of the ballet by brothers Nikolai and Sergei Legat, staged in St. Petersburg in 1903. The author of the renewal and edition of the ballet is the rector of the Vaganova Academy, People’s Artist of Russia, Nikolai Tsiskaridze. Costumes by Dmitry Paradizov were made according to sketches by Leon Bakst.
The Brazilian public reacted temperamentally, meeting every piece of the program with a storm of applause. At the end, the young ballet dancers received a long standing ovation.
On 26 June, the rector of the Vaganova Academy, People’s Artist of Russia Nikolai Tsiskaridze and teachers of the Academy will give a master class for the ballet troupe of the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro.
The last time Nikolai Tsiskaridze performed in Brazil as part of the Bolshoi Theater troupe. It was 25 years ago, in 1999, and now he is back to this country in a new capacity.
