Whatshot
Stars of the Ballet Russia
Stars of the Ballet Russia
Stars of the Ballet Russia will be coming to South Africa in August with a programme paying tribute to arguably the greatest male dancer of the 20th Century, Rudolf Nureyev, which comes to Durban for two shows only on Saturday August 19 at 2pm and 6pm in the Playhouse Opera.
In a city starved of professional ballet, the regular visits from dancers of the Russian ballets are always a treat. This time, the dancers are from the Bashkir State Opera and Ballet Theatre. Nureyev was closely connected with the Bashkir Theatre: he made his first steps to world glory on this stage in Ufa city. Festivals of ballet are named after him and have been hosted by this theatre since 1993. The ballet and opera troupes of the Bashkir Theatre tour abroad regularly and have become globally acclaimed. There are five male and five female dancers from the Bashkir State Opera and Ballet Theatre as part of the South Africa tour. Company choreographer is Lyudmila Vasilevna Shapkina.
This time they bring a ballet programme celebrating one of ballet's most enduring and revered icons: Rudolf Nureyev.
The programme honouring Rudolf Nureyev is in three parts: starting with a short 10 minute documentary film about the life of Nureyev to contextualise the dancer, his work and times, and original footage of him dancing solo and with prima ballerina Dame Margot Fonteyn.
Fonteyn and Nureyev formed a partnership, which became perhaps the most famous in modern theatre history despite Nureyev being 19 years older than Fonteyn, the partnership achieved unprecedented international acclaim. Their last performance together was in Baroque Pas de Trois in 1988 - Fonteyn was then aged 69 and Nureyev was 50!
Stars of the Ballet Russia is presented by Edouard Miasnikov Agency whose objective remains to widen cultural exchange and sharing between Russia and South Africa: https://www.russianartists.co.za.