On 1 and 2 June, the Leonid Yacobson Ballet Theatre will proudly present Curtain Call, a one-act ballet choreographed by Vyacheslav Samodurov.


The première will take place at the main venue of the Alexandrinsky Theatre. The score is based on the Provençal Suite by French composer Darius Milhaud.
 

“This is my third production for the Yacobson Theatre, and I wanted to make something truly special,” says Vyacheslav Samodurov about his creation. “The music is brilliant and beautiful; it truly inspires me to stage a ballet. It’s the kind of music you want to dance to.”
 

Today, Vyacheslav Samodurov is one of the defining names in contemporary Russian ballet. Over two decades as a dance creator, he has evolved from a “promising young talent” into a figure of authority in the field. In his strongest works, he has demonstrated how the traditional vocabulary of ballet can capture the energy and tension of modern life, with all its dramatic contradictions. “Samodurov’s strength lies in the remarkable sensitivity and precision with which he responds to any and all shifting realities around us,” writes ballet critic Anna Galaida. His success has been recognised with numerous professional awards, including six Golden Masks. Among his award-winning productions, is his previous collaboration with the Leonid Yacobson Ballet Theatre, 598 Beats, set to music by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. That work, along with Cheeky Chastushki (which debuted at our Theatre), also received the prestigious Golden Soffit Theatre Award.
 

According to the choreographer, while his previous productions for the Leonid Yacobson company had an ensemble cast, Curtain Call revolves around a central trio: a ballerina and two male soloists. What kind of story connects these three characters — and whether their interactions suggest any story in the first place — is left up to the audience’s interpretation.
 

A major source of creative inspiration for the production comes from its visual design, developed by Moscow-based artist Maria Tregubova. Although she has worked on dozens of drama theatre productions, Curtain Call marks her first venture into ballet. “How ballet is made or where it comes from is alien to me,” Maria admits. Yet this outsider’s perspective offers an unusual degree of creative freedom — one that may lead to a bold and unexpected visual language built around powerful colour accents, while still maintaining a clear connection to classical ballet tradition in the dancers’ costumes.
 

The ballet’s lighting is created by Konstantin Binkin, a young yet highly experienced and sought-after designer. His portfolio includes multiple Golden Mask Awards and more than one hundred lighting concepts for productions in Russia and abroad.