State Classic Ballet Theatre (Ballet company)
The troupe formally named the State Academic Classical Ballet Theatre is known
world-wide as the “Moscow Classical Ballet”. The ballet company came into
existence in 1966. It was established by the USSR Ministry of culture. Renowned
Igor Moiseyev became its artistic director. Its repertoire consisted then of
excerpts from classical ballets and choreographic miniatures produced by such
choreographers as Goleizovsky, Messerer and Moiseyev himself. In 1977 Vladimir
Vasilyov, Asaf Messerer's pupil, assumed the role of Artistic Director from Igor
Moiseyev and Natalia Kasatkina, Marina Semyonova's student, assumed the role of
Principal Choreographer. Their arrival on the scene transformed the ballet
company into the troupe it is today. The troupe has emerged from its earlier
role as a concert company into that of a touring ballet theater.
In 2006
the Classical Ballet Theatre led by Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasilyov
marked its 40th anniversary. 2007 marked the 30th anniversary since Natalia
Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasilyov assumed the roles of the Theatre's artistic
directors. They staged modern ballets and restored classical performances and
were creators of one and only concept ballet theatre in Moscow.
Natalia
Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasilyov, awarded the Title of the People Actor of the
Russian Federation and winners of the State prize, created 3 ballets and 1 opera
at the Bolshoi Theatre, 2 ballets and 2 operas at the Mariinsky Theatre and 23
ballets at their State Academic Theatre, not to mention other productions for
Russian and foreign stages. “Creation of the World”, the ballet originally
written for the Mariinsky Theatre was staged in over 60 theatres around the
world. The most recent debuts took part in the USA in 2003 and 2004. Auctorial
ballets staged by choreographers Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasilyov
contributed to the popular “Classic today” world theatre trend, a modern
interpretation of classical performances. Many theatres today successfully stage
ballets based on their choreography, librettos and stage direction.
“All
genres except tideous!” is the motto of the Classical Ballet Theatre, thus any
performance is striving to tell a coherent and fascinating story equally
interesting for people of all ages, nationalities and beliefs. The Theatre's
wide ranging repertoire includes all P. I. Tchaikovsky ballets, Cinderella,
Romeo and Juliet by S. Prokofiev, Don Quixote by L. Minkus, Giselle by A. Adan,
The Rite of Spring, The Fairy's Kiss, The Firebird by I. Stravinsky, The
Miraculous Mandarin by B. Bartok, The Spartacus by A. Khachaturian, Creation of
the World and Pushkin by A. Petrov, etc, in total over 20 classical and modern
ballets of various styles and trends. The Theatre plans include Lysistrata
ballet by Andrey and Olga Petrov based on the original Aristophanes play, "Le
Corsaire" by A. Adam and "Legend of the Swan Lake and the Ugly Duckling" by
Edvard Grieg. In 2008 the Theatre premiered the Mowgli ballet composed by a
14-year old London conductor-composer Alexander Prior.
The Theatre's
original repertoire any company would be proud of is known to theatre lovers in
over 200 cities in the Russian Federation and the near abroad. It performed in
over 30 countries across 5 continents. 75 ballet dancers, 30 tons worth of stage
sets and over 4000 theatre costumes tour the world all year round.
The
Classical Ballet Company is often nick-named as the “Ballet Star Factory”. It
was here that many world renowned ballet dancers formed and established
themselves, including Irek Mukhamedov, soloist at Covent Garden, Galina
Sepanenko, prima at the Bolshoi Theatre, Vladimir Malakhov, artistic director
and soloist at the German State Opera in Berlin, soloist at the American Ballet
Theatre and a guest dancer at Vienna State Opera. Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir
Vasilyov have a rare gift of spotting talented artists and they have trained a
whole galaxy of world level ballet dancers. Among leading dancers brought up in
the Theatre there are 2 Grand Prix winners and 19 gold medal winners at various
international competitions, 5 awardees and 2 Grand Prix winners of the Paris
Dance Academy, as well as winners of many other awards and nominations at
prestigious ballet competitions. Today Ekaterina Berezina, Ilgyz Galymullin,
Vladimir Muravlyov, Marina Rzhannikova, Lyudmila Doksomova, Nikolay Chevichelov,
Natalia Ognyova, Alexey Pryadkin, Artem Khoroshilov, Alexey Orlov, Alena
Podavalova, Honored Artists of the Russian Federatins and winners of
international competitions fly the flags of the Theatre.
For thirty years
Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasilyov have directed one of the world's most
famous ballet troupes and they keep choreographing new performances and
presenting new talent to the world.
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