The 6th International Festival “Ballet Summer in the Bolshoi” took place from June 21 to June 28, the theater’s press conference informs, the Minsk-News agency reports.
As its general director Vladimir Gridyushko said, the Bolshoi Theater of Belarus has become a partner of the II European Games. The dates of the ballet festival provide an opportunity for the participants of the sports forum, the guests of the Belarusian capital to see on the main stage of the country an interesting program that is replete with premieres and unusual performances.

Nine performances – a kind of record of the festival. Only three of them are Belarusian. Nevertheless, the current “Ballet Summer” takes place under the banner of such a personality as the outstanding Belarusian choreographer, People’s Artist of the USSR, artistic director of the Bolshoi Theater of Belarus Valentin Elizariev. The fact is that many participants of the “Ballet Summer” were formed under his direct influence.

The festival  opened on June 21 with a project, the initiator and inspirer of which is the soloist of the Mariinsky Theater, Honored Artist of Russia Igor Kolb. The project is called Dance. Dance Dance, and it is not by chance.

In one evening, the viewer have seen  three ballets created specifically for three brilliant dancers, the three premiers of the Mariinsky Theater – Igor Kolb, Danila Korsuntsev and Yevgeny Ivanchenko. So, Korsuntsev has danced “Interrupted flight”, Ivanchenko – “Lift”, and Kolb – No name, or “From a clean slate.”

The stars of the Belarusian Big Irina Eromkina, Yuri Kovalev, Anton Kravchenko, Takatoshi Machiyama, Alexander Chizhik will dance this evening.

June 26 was given the legendary ballet by Pyotr Tchaikovsky “Swan Lake”, the magic appeal of which for the viewer has not yet been unraveled. The main parties were danced by  invited artists of the Moscow Theater. K.S. Stanislavsky and V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko Eric Mikirticheva and Denis Dmitriev.

June 27 – Romeo and Juliet. World classics. A new author’s edition by ballet master director V. Elizariev, which he completed in December last year. The show of this ballet has one more motivation – it is timed to the anniversary of the national actress of Belarus Inessa Dushkevich, who was the performer of the Juliette party in the first version of the Elizarievsky production. This time Juliet was  danced by the leading stage master of the Bolshoi Theater of Belarus Lyudmila Khitrova.

The Ballet Summer at the Bolshoi ended on June 28 with a gala concert. Premieres and premieres of the world’s leading theaters took the stage: Natalia Matsak and Sergei Krivokon (National Opera of Ukraine), Matthew Golding (Bavarian State Ballet), Denis Klimuk (St. Petersburg State Academic Ballet Theater named after Leonid Yakobson), Ksenia Ovsianik and Denis Vieira (Berlin State Opera), Anastasia Limenko and Sergey Manuilov (K. S. Stanislavsky and V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater), Ivan Vasilyev (Mikhailovsky Theater). By the way, the Honored Artist of Russia I. Vasilyev, as well as D. Klimuk and A. Limenko studied classical dance in Minsk, in the choreographic college, for them Minsk is almost native.

The ballet festival was decorated by the music of the symphony orchestra of the theater, which was conducted these days by Andrei Galanov, Oleg Lesun, Vyacheslav Chernuho-Volich and Ivan Kostyain.