On 5 April, the extensive tour of the Leonid Yacobson Ballet Theatre across cities in China came to a successful close. Classical Russian ballet performances were hosted at premier venues in the capital, Beijing, and in four major cities across the country’s other regions: Tianjin, Xi’an, Changsha, and Kunming. Our rendition of Swan Lake had nine showings, attracting a combined audience of approximately 17,000 people.

The tour commenced in Beijing on 21 March. The opening performance was preceded by a public dress rehearsal: a special event for devoted admirers of Russian ballet. Yacobson Ballet’s art director, Andrian Fadeev, introduced our guests to the traditions of ballet as an art form, the stage history of Swan Lake, and the distinctive creative journey of our troupe.

Each performance was met with an enthusiastic response from audiences. A wonderfully moving tradition was quick to emerge: following every showing, audience members would linger on, wanting to meet the dancers, take photographs, and request autographs as keepsakes. They were particularly enamoured with the troupe members who played the principal parts. The role of Odette/Odile was performed (in order of showings) by Valerie Gomez de Cádiz, Maria Repetiyeva, Nuriya Kartamysova, and Anna Skvortsova. Prince Siegfried, in turn, was played by Vyacheslav Spilchevsky, Andrey Sorokin, and Arseniy Sheynin; and Rothbart, by Aleksandr Mikhirev, Saveliy Kabzhan, and Murad Kerimov.

Alongside the dancers, other team members like the tutors, the wardrobe and make-up artists, and the technical crew all contributed significantly to the tour’s success. As part of the programme, ballet coach Anna Voronina led a master class for Chinese students with more than five years of training and past experience in performing solo variations.

Throughout its duration, the Leonid Yacobson Ballet Theatre’s tour attracted considerable public attention. Our hosts requested a special Swan Lake-inspired publicity campaign for bloggers and tourists in the final destination city of Kunming, renowned for its ancient temples and picturesque landscapes. Featuring dancers in white tutus against the backdrop of Lake Dianchi, the performance became a viral video sensation on Chinese social media platforms.

 

While this is our first time visiting China, no other tour has been so lengthy. Our main mission was to shine a spotlight on ballet as Russia’s national brand, and judging by the host and audience feedback, we succeeded with flying colours. The troupe will be coming home on 8 April.