Mikhailovsky Ballet
St.Petersbourg (Russia)
“Without words”
Choreography: Nacho Duato / music: Franz Schubert
Duration: 25 min
“Duende”
Choreography: Nacho Duato / music: Claude Debussy
Duration: 30 min
“Na Floresta”
Choreography: Nacho Duato / music: Heitor Villa-Lobos, Wagner Tisso
Duration: 20 min
The Mikhailovsky Theatre, one of the oldest music theatres of St Petersburg, was opened to the public in 1833. The French and German drama companies performed on the stage till 1917, after the Revolution the theatre gained an opera company. In 1933, its own ballet company was founded by the renowned choreographer Fyodor Lopukhov. The repertory of the theatre was based on the masterpieces of the opera classics. Staging operettas was another tradition of the theatre; however, the most specific trait of the theatre, kept through many decades, was its interest in contemporary music of the 20th century.
The theatre traditionally introduced the public to the newest works: it is here that Shostakovich’s operas The Nose and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Prokofiev’s opera War and Peace received their world premières. In 1935, the outstanding stage director Vsevolod Meyerhold created a unique production of Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades, which became an outstanding event in the history of world theatre. The pioneering performances, memorable to several generations, were created in the theatre: Shostakovich’s The Bright Stream, Tishchenko’s Yaroslavna (stage director – Yury Lyubimov), Prokofiev’s Boris the Tsar, among many others.
Lately the theatre has gained new energy. General Director Vladimir Kekhman invited world-famous artists to work for the Theatre. In 2011-2014, the famous choreographer Nacho Duato held the post of Artistic Director of the Mikhailovsky Ballet Company and now works with the Company as a Resident Choreographer. Since 2012, the Mikhailovsky Theatre has worked closely with the young Russian conductor Mikhail Tatarnikov.
Among the latest artistic achievements of the Theatre are the productions of the ballets La Sylphide and Cinderella, operas La Boheme, Thunderstorm (after Káťa Kabanová) and Mozart. The Marriage of Figaro.
The Mikhailovsky Ballet Company was founded in 1933 by the Russian choreographer Fyodor Lopukhov. The first decades of its history was dedicated to the establishment of the Soviet ballet, mostly, the comic repertoire. Since late 1950s, the repertoire of the Mikhailovsky Ballet has included classical productions. Today one can see Swan Lake, La Bayadere, The Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, The Nutcracker, La Sylphide and Cinderella both at the Mikhailovsky Theatre and on tour. The geography of the Mikhailovsky tours is impressive: it spans the US, Japan, Switzerland, Germany, Italy and the UK.
In 2011–2014, the famous Spanish choreographer Nacho Duato headed the Mikhailovsky Ballet and introduced contemporary choreography to the company’s repertoire, which now encompasses 11 pieces by Duato. Since 2009, the Mikhailovsky Theatre has cooperated with the renowned coach and ballet master Mikhail Messerer, who became Artistic Director of the Ballet Company in 2018. Today the Mikhailovsky Ballet draws young artists’ attention: not only the graduates of the St. Petersburg Vaganova Academy and Moscow Bolshoi Ballet Academy, but also young dancers from the US, Sweden, Slovakia, Germany, New Zealand, Japan, and Ukraine join the company. Now the Mikhailovsky Ballet is a versatile company: it both great at classical ballets (the Mikhailovsky’s Giselle was dubbed ‘exemplary’ by the British critics) and contemporary pieces.
