Children’s Dance Theater opens in St. Petersburg
On November 16, 2019 at 19:00 a gala concert will be held in honor of the opening of a unique citywide public venue

Pupils of Boris Eifman’s Dance Academy, Beijing Dance Academy and the Berlin State Ballet School will perform on the new stage. The event will take place as part of the Ballet and Dance section of the VIII St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum (its traditional co-director is Eifman).

The children’s dance theater was conceived by the choreographer as a center for aesthetic and professional education of students of the Boris Eifman Dance Academy – future universal artists – and thousands of young Petersburgers. On this stage, it is planned to carry out displays of ballet performances and concert programs for young spectators. Also, festivals and competitions will be held here with the participation of children’s creative groups from Russia and foreign countries – both professional and amateur.

The mission of the theater is to introduce young citizens to the high values ​​of choreographic art, preserve the ballet heritage and develop cultural traditions of St. Petersburg.

In the first part of the gala concert, spectators will see Boris Eifman’s one-act ballet “Musaget” – a dedication to the outstanding choreographer of the 20th century, a follower of the traditions of Marius Petipa and innovator George Balanchine. Staged in 2004 by the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Georgian folk music for the New York City ballet company, this performance was subsequently also performed by artists of Eifman’s own collective. The most authoritative American critic Clive Barnes called the “Musageta” “magnificent and bewitching.” “I plunged into the world of Balanchine ballets, was shocked by the personality of Balanchine himself and could no longer get rid of this charm,” the choreographer tells about his creation. The stage life of the performance turned out to be bright, but relatively short-lived: its last show at the moment is dated to the beginning of 2008. The revived Musaget with a revised plastic score will be presented by students of the Boris Eifman Dance Academy.

The program of the second section will include the Grand pas from the ballet Paquita (music by Ludwig Minkus, choreography by Petipa, restored by the art director of the Children’s Dance Theater and Academy by choreographer Yuri Burlak) and the Tyrolean pas de deux August Bournonville from the Joachkino Rossini opera Wilhelm Tell. Pearls of classical heritage will be shown by the pupils of the school of Boris Eifman, capable of mastering both the modern and the traditional repertoire at the same high level. In the same part of the concert, performances by foreign guests will take place.

Pupils of the Beijing Dance Academy will present the production of Rush (“The Cast”) by the famous British choreographer Christopher Wheldon (in his rich creative biography – collaboration with New York City Ballet, the Royal London Ballet, the American Ballet Theater and other major troupes). The play, composed by the music of Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu for the San Francisco Ballet, according to the author, simultaneously absorbed the fast-paced rhythm of life in New York streets and the heedless atmosphere of California. Rush premiered in 2003 at the Edinburgh Festival.

Two numbers will be brought to St. Petersburg by students of the Berlin State Ballet School. The first is All Long Dem Day (“Mad Long Day”) by Marco Gekke for the song Sinnerman Nina Simon (premiere of 2015). Guest choreographer at the Netherlands Dance Theater and resident choreographer of the Stuttgart Ballet, experimenter and avant-garde artist Hecke with the help of modern plastics glorifies in his composition the overwhelming vital power of youth. The duet to the music of the Gotan Project from the Tango Palace performance (Tango Palace) by Gregor Seifert, one of the most famous German dancers and (since 2002) the artistic director of the Berlin State Ballet School, will continue to perform Western guests. This 2007 production is a fascinating journey through the endlessly diverse world of tango, a look at the evolution of the genre through the intricacies of human relations.

The evening will end with a ball scene to the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart from Boris Eifman’s ballet Don Giovanni, or Passion for Moliere. The performance of the great French comedian was created in 2001. A fragment from the production will be performed by students of the Boris Eifman Dance Academy.