Leonid Yacobson Ballet Theatre to take part in the XXXVI Rudolf Nureyev International Festival of Ballet Art

From 12 to 30 May, the Musa Cälil Tatar Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre in Kazan will be hosting the annual ballet festival that will bring together the best performers in the country. The playbill of this two-week ballet marathon is classical at its core, including such staples as Giselle, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, La Bayadère, and The Sleeping Beauty. The main roles in these shows will be played by the soloists of major music theatres: the Bolshoi Theatres of Russia and Belarus, Mariinsky Theatre, Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre, Mikhailovsky Theatre, Kremlin Ballet, and the Tatar Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre.

The festival will culminate in extravagant galas starring world ballet stars. The evenings of 29 and 30 May will be dedicated both to classical gems and to the works of modern choreographers: The Basque Dance from Flames of Paris, scenes from The Golden Age and Gayane, Classical Grand Pas, the duo from the Ghost Ball ballet, Grand Pas from Don Quixote, as well as Torrents of Spring and Rachmaninoff’s Suite. The Leonid Yacobson Ballet Theatre will also contribute to two pieces from its unique repertoire, providing exquisite highlights to the concert programme: Nuriya Kartamysova and Denis Klimuk will appear in the Minotaur and Nymph miniature, part of the Rodin cycle, while Honoured Artist of Russia Alla Bocharova will perform in Pas de Trois from Classicism-Romanticism, alongside Kirill Vychuzhanin and Dmitry Sobolev.

Kazan’s international ballet festival in May is an annual event that dates back to 1987. The legendary Rudolf Nureyev took part in the event in 1992, and in 1993, it was appropriately renamed in his honour. Today, the Nureyev Festival is one of the largest forums for classical ballet art. Andrian Fadeev, Honoured Artist of Russia and art director of the Leonid Yacobson Ballet Theatre, also personally performed at the festival during his tenure as principal at the Mariinsky Theatre.