The Bolshoi Ballet have announced plans for their 2017/18 cinema season, bringing some of ballet’s greatest classical works, celebrated choreographers, and finest dancers, to big screens across the country.
Three historical ballets recreated by Alexei Ratmansky (Le Corsaire, Romeo and Juliet and The Flames of Paris) will be shown on the big screen along with John Neumeier’s The Lady Of The Camellias and Jean-Christophe Maillot’s riveting The Taming Of The Shrew.
Three timeless classics and audience-favourites will complete the season: Giselle, The Nutcracker and Coppélia.
The season opens on 22 October 2017 with the Bolshoi’s lavish production of Le Corsaire, live from Moscow. Performed by almost the entire Bolshoi Ballet Company and staged by one of ballet’s foremost choreographers in Alexei Ratmansky, Le Corsaire is a romantic ballet which features the story of the pirate Conrad and his love for Medora, who is sold into slavery.
Acclaimed French choreographer Jean-Christophe Maillot’s The Taming Of The Shrew follows on 12 November 2017, based on Shakespeare’s comedy. Bolshoi Principal dancers Ekaterina Krysanova (Katharina) and Vladislav Lantratov (Petruchio) clash, challenge and eventually give themselves to one another in a wonderfully witty, fast paced and entertaining production, with music by Dmitri Shostakovich.
Ekaterina Krysanova and Vladislav Lantratov in the Bolshoi Ballet’s The Taming Of The Shrew (Photo: E Fetisova)
A festive tradition for the whole family, The Nutcracker sweeps the Bolshoi stage for two hours of enchantment and magic on 3 December 2017. Along with Tchaikovsky’s cherished score and Yuri Grigorovich’s choreography, the production stars some of the Bolshoi’s greatest artists, including Denis Rodkin (the Nutcracker Prince), Anna Nikulina (Marie), Andrei Merkuriev (Drosselmeyer), Vitaly Biktimirov (the Mouse King) and the accomplished Bolshoi Corps de Ballet.
21 January 2018 sees a new production live from Moscow of the Shakespearean tragedy Romeo And Juliet staged by Alexei Ratmansky, offering a fresh take on this classic love story. Ratmansky’s brilliant and detailed adaptation, set to Prokofiev’s romantic and cinematic score, features the Bolshoi’s Principals, Soloists and Corp de Ballet.
John Neumeier’s work of rare beauty The Lady Of The Camillas, based on Alexandre Dumas fils’s novel comes to life on 4 February 2018. Set in Paris to Chopin’s romantic piano score, it tells the story of the young and naive Armand, who is utterly captivated – and ultimately doomed – after meeting the ravishing and desirable courtesan Marguerite Gautier. Their encounter gives birth to a passionate yet doomed love. Bolshoi prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova is the ailing Marguerite seeking love and redemption from her life as a courtesan.
Alexei Ratmansky’s captivating revival of Vasily Vainonen’s The Flames Of Paris comes to the screen on 4 March 2018. In the era of the French Revolution, Jeanne and her brother Jérôme leave Marseille for Paris in support of the revolutionary effort that is taking over the capital. While fighting for freedom, they both encounter love along the way. With powerful virtuosity and some of the most stunning pas de deux to music by Boris Asafiev, this ballet features the Bolshoi Ballet Principals, Soloists and Corp de Ballet.
On screen on 8 April 2018 is classic romantic ballet Giselle, choreographed by Yuri Grigorovich. Prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova personifies the title role alongside the sensational Sergei Polunin as Albrecht, it also stars Ekaterina Shipulina (Myrtha), Denis Savin (Hans) and the Bolshoi Corps de Ballet. With music by Adolphe Adam this chilling, yet luminous ballet has continued to captivate audiences for over 150 years at the Bolshoi.
The final screening is of Coppélia on 10 June 2018. The Bolshoi’s unique version of this ebullient comedy by Sergei Vikharev exhibits a fascinating reconstruction of the original 19th century choreography, featuring feisty heroine Swanhilda and her boyish fiancee Franz – with a wandering eye. The company’s stunning Corps de Ballet shines in the divertissements and famous “dance of the hours,” and its Principal dancers abound in youthful energy and irresistible humor in this effervescent production, live from Moscow.
To discover where you can experience the magic of the Bolshoi in your local cinema, visit the season’s website.