Cal Performances Presents Program
Friday, March , , pm Saturday, March , , pm & pm Tchaikovsk y Perm Sunday, March , , pm Ballet & Orchestra Zellerbach Hall
George Isaakyan Artistic Director of the Th eatre Tchaikovsk y Perm Natalia Akhmarova Artistic Director of the Ballet Ballet & Orchestra Valery Platonov Principal Conductor Prima Balerina Elena Kulagina
Principals Yaroslava Araptanova Natalya Poleshchuk Yulia Mashkina Robert Gabdullin Sergey Mershin Artur Shesterikov
Soloists Viktoriya Ananyan Ekaterina Gushchina Yuliya Manzheles Ekaterina Tarasova Vitaliy Poleshchuk Ivan Poroshin Ilya Shitov Igor Solovyev Taras Tovstyuk
Corps de ballet Yana Alfi mova Yuliya Balagurova Kseniia Barbashova Maria Belousova Olena Bozhko Galina Dubrovina Nadezhda Dvurechenskaya Svetlana Golovkina Mariya Gorbunova Elena Kobeleva Anastasiya Kostyuk Tatyana Kolchanova Karina Kudryavtseva Elena Kulichkova Elena Levina Lyudmila Manzheles Irina Markova Maria Menshikova Elena Morozova Ekaterina Mosienko Ekaterina Panchenko Anna Poistogova Albina Rangulova Marianna Selvestru Irina Shurkova Darya Sosnina Nadezhda Vasilkova Evgeniya Vostrikova Olga Zavgorodnaya Svetlana Zakhlebina
Swan Lake Pavel Boyarinov Rostislav Desnitskiy Vladimir Dorofeev Dmitriy Durnev Nikita Elikarov Ballet in Th ree Acts () Marat Fadeev Nikolay Kalabin Sergey Kreker Aleksey Lysenko Nikolay Mityashin Georgiy Nelzin Ruslan Nurtdinov Konstantin Olyunin Andrey Popov Oleg Posokhin Special Guest Artists Artem Pozdeev Evgeniy Rogov Vladislav Shumakov Roman Subbotin Aleksandr Tarasov Polina Semionova Vladimir Shklyarov Roman Tarkhanov Maksim Temnikov Dmitriy Tenitskiy Mikhail Timashev Dmitriy Zvyagin
Music Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky (–) Ballet Coaches Choreography and Direction Natalia Makarova (after Marius Petipa and Rimma Shlyamova Valentina Baikova Olga Lukina Olga Salimbaeva Lev Ivanov) Additional Choreography Sir Frederick Ashton Executive Director Vadim Lukin Sets Peter Farmer Ballet Manager Vitaly Dubrovin Costumes Galina Solovyeva Production Director Jonathan Bradley Lighting Sergey Martynov Technical Director and Lighting Designer Sergey Martynov Conductor Valery Platonov
Th is presentation is made possible, in part, by the Bernard Osher Foundation though a gift to the Centennial Campaign Creative Venture Fund.
Cal Performances’ – season is sponsored by Wells Fargo Bank.
4 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 5 Cast Synopsis
Odette/Odile Polina Semionova (Friday & Sunday), Swan Lake perfect love. Never before his heart has been given Natalia Moiseeva, Yaroslava Araptanova to anyone, but without hesitation he off ers it to Prince Siegfried Vladimir Shklyarov (Friday & Sunday), Odette. As dawn approaches the Sorcerer exerts his Sergei Mershin, Robert Gabdullin Act 1 power and Odette is forced away from Siegfried’s Benno Sergei Mershin, Robert Gabdullin, arms. Siegfried realizes his fate is now entwined Scene Taras Tovstyuk, Dmitriy Tenitskiy with hers. Rothbart Igor Soloviev It is the eve of Prince Siegfried’s coming-of-age Th e Queen Mother Galina Dubrovina ball. His companions, led by Benno, are preparing Act 2 their own celebration for him. Th e Prince arrives Master of Ceremonies Vitaly Dubrovin and is soon enjoying himself with his friends. Th e guests are arriving for the formal ball to Pas de trois Th e festivities are unexpectedly interrupted by celebrate Prince Siegfried’s coming of age. Th e Yaroslava Araptanova, Natalia Makina, Ekaterina Tarasova, the arrival of the Queen Mother. She takes her son Queen Mother enters and is disturbed to fi nd that Ekaterina Guschina, Maria Belousova, Maria Menshikova aside, insisting the time has now come when he Siegfried is not there. Soon he arrives, but he is pre- must assume the responsibilities of the kingdom. occupied by his thoughts. Th ree Knights present Four Cygnets She presents him with the emblem that is the the prospective fi ancées to the court. Courteously, Yana Alfi mova, Ksenia Barbasheva, Maria Belousova, symbol of his kingship. As King, one of the fi rst Siegfried dances with each of them, but his heart Nadezhda Dvurechenskaya, Ekaterina Tarasova, Ekaterina Mosienko matters he must consider is that of his marriage. is now pledged to Odette and despite his mother’s Siegfried pleads with her, but the Queen reminds insistence he refuses to choose. Four Big Swans him that he is obligated to choose a fi ancée at the Suddenly an unknown Knight appears, the Ekaterina Guschina , Natalia Makina, Yulia Manzheles, ball. His Mother’s words weigh heavily on his soul. evil Sorcerer in disguise, accompanied by the rav- Ekaterina Panchenko, Yaroslava Araptanova, Elena Kobeleva He is saddened that he will loose his freedom and ishing and devious Odile. Siegfried is mesmerized that he has not yet met someone who would touch by her striking resemblance to his beloved Odette. Spanish Dance his heart. Odile enchants and beguiles him. Any doubts that Marianna Selvestru, Nikolai Mityashin, Artem Pozdeev, Ruslan Nurtdinov, As twilight sets in, the Prince remains preoc- Siegfried may have about Odile’s identity are dis- Tatiana Kolchanova, Anna Poistogova, Ekaterina Panchenko, Ivan Poroshin cupied with his thoughts. persed. Siegfried becomes convinced that she is Hungarian Dance Benno sees a fl ight of swans and urges Siegfried Odette and declares that he has chosen her to be Ilya Shitov, Ivan Poroshin, Marat Fadeev, Anna Poistogova, Maria Gorbunova, Ekaterina Mosienko, to go hunting in hope that the diversion will dispel his bride. Th e Knight intervenes demanding that Evgenia Vostrikova, Nadezhda Dvurechenskaya, Alexey Yaschenko, Pavel Boyarinov, his melancholic mood. Siegfried goes off into the Prince Siegfried swear an oath of fi delity to Odile. Maksim Temnikov, Alexei Lysenko, Roman Tarkhanov, Ekaterina Kitaeva, woods and Benno follows, but their paths diverge. He willingly does so. Before the Prince’s eyes a vi- Rostislav Desnitskiy, Svetlana Zakhlebina, Irina Shurkova sion of the inconsolable Odette appears. He real- Scene izes that he has been deceived. Triumphant the Neopolitan Dance evil Sorcerer and Odile disappear. Grief-stricken, Wandering alone deep in the forest, Siegfried dis- Ivan Poroshin, Roman Tarkhanov, Ksenia Barbasheva, Maria Belousova, Yana Alfi mova, Siegfried runs to the lakeside. covers a mysterious moonlit lake. Unbeknownst to Dmitriy Tenitskiy, Ekaterina Kitaeva, Svetlana Zakhlebina, Irina Shurkova, Maria Belousova him, this is the domain of the evil Sorcerer who Mazurka has cast a spell on young maidens turning them Act 3 Irina Markova, Elena Morozova, Elena Kobeleva, Svetlana Golovkina, Nikolai Mityashin, into swans. Siegfried prepares to shoot as he sees a Mikhail Timashev, Artem Pozdeev, Marat Fadeev, Ruslan Nurtdinov, swan gliding across the lake. To his astonishment Night time. A deep sadness has descended upon the Marianna Selvestru, Irina Shurkova when the swan reaches the shore, she is suddenly lake of swans. Th ey are now doomed by the spell to transformed. Her beauty overwhelms the Prince. remain swans forever. Rushing through the fright- Brides She is Odette, Queen of the Swans who has been ening storm, created by the evil Sorcerer, Siegfried Ekaterina Guschina, Natalia Makina, Ekaterina Tarasova, Ekaterina Panchenko, Maria Menshikova, enchanted by the evil Sorcerer. Although fright- searches for Odette to beg her forgiveness. Odette Nadezhda Dvurechenskaya, Maria Belousova, Yaroslava Araptanova, Elena Kobeleva, Yana Alfi mova ened, Odette unburdens the story of her plight. forgives him, but she knows that nothing can be Th e spell that keeps them swans by day and maid- changed. Death is their only salvation. Th e waves Knights ens at night can only be broken if a man who has of the lake unite the lovers forever. Th e power of Vitaly Poleschuk, Ilya Shitov, Dmitriy Zvyagin never loved before swears eternal fi delity to her. the evil Sorcerer is destroyed. From the fi rst moment of their meeting, he knows In a vision, Odette and Siegfried approach an Courtiers, Waltz, Sarabande, Swans that he was right to believe in the existence of a ideal and eternal love. Corps de ballet
6 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 7 Program Notes About the Artists
Swan Lake by Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky is a mas- Russia. After working for a time as a clerk in the Th e Perm Tchaikovsky Opera and Ballet and world premieres of Massenet’s Cleopatre and terpiece of world classical choreography. Of all bal- Ministry of Justice, he began full-time musical Th eatre is one of Russia’s most distinguished ar- Cinderella, Shchedrin’s Lolita and Handel’s Alcina, lets it is the best known and the most popular. study at the age of , when the great pianist Anton tistic establishments. Perm, spectacularly perched which is a breakthrough in the fi eld of early mu- Its secret is not only in the perfection of the Rubenstein established a local conservatory. Two above the Kama river, is a city of impeccable cul- sic so rarely performed in Russia; a modern pro- great composer’s music, but also in that extraordi- years later, he became a teacher of harmony at a tural credentials. At the close of its th season, duction of Bizet’s Carmen, Dvořák’s Rusalka and nary deep poetic thought which it is inspired by, new conservatory in Moscow, a position he held the Tchaikovsky Th eatre has produced an ever Tchaikovsky’s magnifi cent Mazeppa, which had and which it powerfully expresses; it is in the psy- for years. increasing number of classical and contemporary not been performed in Perm since . chological essence of the ballet with its complex he- By , he had attained eminence as the works with particular emphasis on the operas and It has become a tradition to present on the roes’ characters, whose fate we are following with composer of a variety of beautiful music. During ballets of Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, who was born Perm stage co-productions with choreographers, great interest. this period, despite being psychologically unsuited near Perm. Th e current Tchaikovsky repertoire directors and set designers from Germany, Spain, Tchaikovsky’s ballet was fi rst staged at the for it, he married a former conservatory student features the most beloved signature masterworks: Switzerland, the United States and the United Bolshoi Th eatre in . Th ose interested in the named Antonina Miliukova, a neurotic girl who is Pique Dame, Evgeny Onegin, Iolanthe, Jeanne d’Arc, Kingdom. A new version of Swan Lake, cho- history of ballet will know that premiere failed, said to have forced Tchaikovsky into the union by Mazepa, Swan Lake, Th e Sleeping Beauty and Th e reographed by the legendary ballerina Natalia and that it was not very surprising—the talented threatening suicide if he refused her. So desperate Nutcracker. It is in the theater’s tradition to bring Makarova, now living in the United States, is a composer happened to leave most of the ballet tra- was the young composer to extricate himself from to life and present on stage music festivals, forums perfect example of such a highly favorable artistic ditions of his time far behind. the “rash act” (his brother Modest’s term for the and artistic programs. collaboration. Th e Perm Ballet has also presented In fact, the great work became worthy of its alliance) that after a few weeks of marriage, he at- Perm was also the home of Sergei Diaghilev, new versions of Th e Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote stage life only after the creator’s death, symbolizing tempted to contract a fatal case of pneumonia by the world famous impresario, the great art and and Th e Nutcracker. the contradictions in Russian Art at that time. standing for several hours in the frigid Moscow theater innovator of the th century and the Th e Tchaikovsky Perm State Ballet of Russia Swan Lake was fi rst staged at the Perm Th eatre River. Instead, he suff ered a nervous break- towering genius of “Ballets Russes,” which revolu- has benefi ted from the collaboration with the in . Having been restaged there more than down and another brother, Anatol, took him to tionized ballet. As a result of the close connection George Balanchine and the Jerome Robbins trusts, times, it has become a real highlight of the Switzerland to recover. with Diaghilev, the theater hosts the prestigious having carried out the joint Russian-American theatre’s repertoire. It is not by chance that it was Meanwhile, a more welcome infl uence entered Diaghilev Festival and is a forum for Diaghilev project “George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins this ballet that fi rst toured abroad years ago to Tchaikovsky’s life. Nadejda von Meck was a mid- Seasons: Perm, Petersburg, Paris with a mission not Choreography on the Perm Stage.” be shown at the Bregenz Festival in Austria by the dle-aged, wealthy widow with as burning a pas- only to preserve his glorious heritage but also to Th e Opera is the recipient of the national pres- Perm Company. sion for the composer’s music as the unfortunate give it a much needed new outlook. tigious Th e Golden Masque award for Donizetti’s At diff erent periods of its existence, the bal- Antonina had for the man himself. In , the Th e Diaghilev Festival has demonstrated its Don Pasquale () and Tchaikovsky’s Pique let Swan Lake was presented to the audience as a generous, if eccentric, Mme. von Meck bestowed importance in carrying out extraordinarily versa- Dame (). Th e Ballet received this highest na- fairy tale or a fantastic poem, a realistic novel or , roubles a year on Tchaikovsky, enabling him tile artistic and research activities in musical the- tional arts award for Balanchine’s Ballet Imperial a philosophical parable. But in all these versions to leave the conservatory and devote all of his time ater, the fi ne arts, cinema and publishing, while (). In , a group of Perm directors won the it remained a drama, purely lyrical and spiritual, to composition. attracting national and international companies, highest State Award of Russia for mounting a cycle exciting us as a real event. Tchaikovsky insisted upon one condition, stage masters, theater managers, critics and public of operas based on Pushkin lyrics, entitled Pushkin It is this classical version of the undying ballet however—they must never meet but communi- celebrities. in Opera. that has come to us, telling of an eternal story of cate by correspondence only. His patroness read- George Isaakyan, a State Prize winner, hon- Traditionally, Perm is the location of Arabesk, love, of delusions and hopes, of a belief into hu- ily assented and it was an agreement they kept for ored for his services to arts, brought his artistic the open Russian ballet competition supervised by man beauty, which holds out against falsehood years. directorship to the Perm Opera and Ballet in . the great ballet masters and former Bolshoi dancers and evil. Th e period of subsidy by Mme. von Meck was Since then, he has created opportunities for the Vladimir Vasiliev and Ekaterina Maximova. Th is fully staged Perm Ballet production abundantly productive for Tchaikovsky. Among development of a major, highly acclaimed com- Th e Perm Ballet is now widely recognized as of Swan Lake is choreographed and directed by many other works, he completed Th e Sleeping pany and has shaped the repertoire by constantly being one of the most prestigious ballet companies Natalia Makarova, the superstar of the legendary Beauty, the opera Eugene Onegin, his Fourth and renovating and carefully preserving the highlights in the world. Ballet came into its own there with Kirov Ballet and the renowned companies of the Fifth Symphonies and Th e Nutcracker. In , of the Russian classics: Borodin’s Prince Igor, the institution of a permanent company in the West, who for many years thrilled the world as in St. Petersburg, Tchaikovsky fi nished his Sixth Rimsky-Korsakov’s Tsar’s Bride and Snowmaiden, mid-s. A performance of Giselle opened the the preeminent Odette/Odile. Now she has given Symphony (Pathétique) during a period of almost Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov. Popular operas by fi rst ballet season in Perm in . Perm her own version of Tchaikovsky’s tale of im- unbreakable mental depression. Ten days after Verdi, Puccini, Mozart and Leoncavallo, com- In more recent times, the famous Kirov Ballet mortal love. conducting the fi rst performance of the new work, bined with lesser-known works, provide an oppor- was evacuated to Perm during the Second World he drank—perhaps not accidentally—a glass of tunity to Perm audiences to further their knowl- War, seeking safety there. It was not unnatural Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky was born on May , contaminated river water and died of cholera on edge of opera within as broad a range as possible. that the Perm Ballet was hugely infl uenced by the , in the town of Kamsko-Votkinsk in central November , . Th e theater has launched the operatic Russian traditions and standards of the Kirov school. With
8 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 9 About the Artists About the Artists a company of dancers, its current repertoire and, among the most recent, the fi rst Russian per- bronze medalist; at a competition held in Peru in when she danced Giselle with the Kirov Ballet in features ballet’s most-treasured classics as well as formances of Massenet’s Cléopâtre. His career has , she won a gold medal. London, which became one of her signature roles. the works by contemporary choreographers, such taken him to major opera houses all over Russia, Ms. Akhmarova also received tremendous crit- She won the Gold Medal in Varna in . as Vladimir Vasiliev, Oleg Vinogradov, Radu including the Mariinsky Th eatre in St. Petersburg, ical acclaim as an active, creative member of the On September , , while on tour in London, Poklitaru and Tatyana Baganova. where he directed Borodin’s Prince Igor for the joint company Stars of the Russian Ballet while again with the Kirov Ballet, Ms. Makarova asked Th e Company is unique in that it draws all of Kirov Opera Festival, a production that was pre- touring South Korea, France, India, Japan and the for asylum in Britain. She began her career with its dancers from its own school, which is one of sented at Metropolitan Opera in New York in the United States. American Ballet Th eatre making her debut with the most prestigious training institutions for bal- spring of ; the Moscow Helicon Opera, where Her dancing career has taken her to the United the company in Giselle. She danced American let in Russia. Former graduates of the school and he gave the world premiere of Skryabin’s Keistut i States to work with Boston Ballet from to Ballet Th eatre’s vast repertory, working extensively dancers of Perm Ballet, such as Galina Ragozina- Birut; Minsk and Belarus with La Bohème; and the , where she performed lead roles in produc- with Antony Tudor (Dark Elegies, Lilac Garden, Panova, Lyubov Kunakova, Galina Shlyapina and Latvian National Opera in Riga, where he directed tions of such renowned choreographers as John Pillar of Fire, Romeo and Juliet), George Balanchine Nadezhda Pavlova have confi rmed the excellence Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss. Cranko, George Balanchine, August Bournonville, (Th eme and Variations, Apollo), Jerome Robbins of this schooling. Mr. Isaakyan has been invited to stage his Michael Gordon, Bruce Marks, Ben Stevenson and Glen Tetley. Today, such Perm artists as Elena Kulagina, productions in numerous opera houses overseas, and others. She appeared in all the major classical Ms. Makarova’s association with the Royal Yulia Mashkina, Natalia Moiseeva, Vitaly including Madama Butterfl y at Opera Ireland, ballets as well. Ballet began in ; her repertoire with the Poleschuk, Yaroslava Araptanova and Sergey Dublin, and Don Carlo at Sakai City Opera, Natalia Akhmarova returned to her home Perm Company includes Swan Lake, Giselle, Sleeping Mershin and have distinguished themselves in Osaka, Japan. Ballet Company in to become a répétiteur. In Beauty, Manon, Song of the Earth, A Month in the national and international competitions and won He is the director of numerous important , she was appointed Head of the Company, Country, Concerto, Dances at a Gathering, Serenade, international fame. cultural projects, the most recent the renowned bringing educational, artistic and personal experi- Les Biches and MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet. Recent opera and ballet tours included engage- Diaghilev Festival and the bearer of a lot of national ences to her position, her main goal being to nur- She has appeared as guest artist with major bal- ments in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and international prizes and awards among which ture and structure a superb ballet company. let companies worldwide. Her repertory includes Spain, Ireland and the United States. is the highest in Russian culture State Premium Onegin (for which she won the Evening Standard of the Russian Federation received by him for his After graduating from the Ural State Conservatory Award in ), La Bayadère, Th e Firebird, Don George Isaakyan (artistic director of the theatre) is grand project Pushkin in Opera. in , Valery Platonov (principal conductor) Quixote, Coppelia, La Fille Mal Gardée, Notre a native of Yerevan, Armenian Republic. He stud- As a director of vast scope, Mr. Isaakyan is began his career at the Perm Opera and Ballet, Dame de Paris, Carmen, Proust, Le Jeune Homme et ied at the Moscow State Institute of Th eatre Arts, keen on and inspired by the original works rarely where he co-staged Ivan Susanin, War and Peace, la Mort, John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet, Raymonda graduating from the department of music theatre performed both in Russia and abroad. His recent Th e Fire Angel, Khovanshchina and others. He has and La Sylphide. Among the ballets and pas de deux in . creation feature a brand new production of Lolita, guest conducted in major opera houses all over the created especially for Makarova are Robbins’ Other After a brief period with the Yerevan State based on Nabokov’s novel, to the music by the con- former Soviet Union. Dances, Ashton’s Le Rossignol, a MacMillan pas de Conservatoire, he joined the Perm State Th eatre of temporary composer Rodion Shchedrin. He has also conducted ballet performances in deux, Neumeier’s Epilogue, Tetley’s Contradance; Opera and Ballet as an Opera Director in , a Germany, the Czech Republic, the United States, Petit’s Blue Angel, Bejart’s Mephisto and Ulf Gaad’s position he held until , when he was appointed Natalia Akhmarova (artistic director of the bal- Ireland and Switzerland. In , he became prin- Miraculous Mandarin. Artistic Director. let) was born in Roslavl, in the Smolensk region cipal conductor of the Bashkiria State Opera and Natalia Makarova staged La Bayadère the fi rst Mr. Isaakyan assumed artistic directorship of of Russia. She began her ballet training at Perm Ballet Th eatre. Th ere, he staged and conducted full-length production for a Western company the Perm Opera and Ballet Th eatre in . He has Ballet School in and graduated in with a Carmen, Th e Barber of Seville, La Bohème, Faust, American Ballet Th eatre in making American distinguished himself as a highly effi cient artistic fi rst-class honors degree. several operas based on the national Bashkir folk- Ballet Th eatre the fi rst Western company to acquire leader and an imaginative creator of a great vari- With the Perm Ballet Company, which she was lore, as well as some ballet scores. this work. Her production of La Bayadère is now ety of productions (more than ) which highlight invited to join that same year, she has danced lead- In , he rejoined the Perm State Opera in the repertoire of companies around the world the wide repertoire of his home company in Perm. ing roles in all the major classical ballets, includ- and Ballet Th eatre to assume the post of principal including the Royal Ballet, La Scala Ballet Teatro Mr. Isaakyan presented his renowned produc- ing Th e Nutcracker, Don Quixote and Th e Sleeping conductor. Colon, Buenos Aires, Neumeier’s Hamburg Ballet tions of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, winner of two Beauty. She has extended her repertoire by expres- and the Australian Ballet. Ms. Makarova has also National Golden Masque Awards in , at the sive performance of contemporary choreography Natalia Makarova (choreographer) began her staged Giselle for the Royal Swedish Ballet. Other Riga Opera House in ; Tchaikovsky’s Pigue in Vasiliev’s Anyuta (Anyuta), Salimbaev’s Th e career in her native St. Petersburg, entering the productions include Paquita for American Ballet Dame, which was awarded the Golden Masque Seven Beauties (Aisha) and Boyarchikov’s Romeo Vaganova School at age , where she was placed Th eatre, National Ballet of Canada, the Korean for scenography in and was invited on tour and Juliet (Juliet). in a special experimental class condensing the Ballet and San Francisco Ballet; Th e Sleeping in Germany and Switzerland in and ; Ms. Akhmarova has distinguished herself in nine-year program into six. After graduating, she Beauty for the Royal Ballet and Swan Lake for Verdi’s Rigoletto (); Britten’s Noye’s Fludde several ballet competitions, including the Moscow joined the Kirov Ballet, rapidly rising to the rank London Festival Ballet, Teatro Municipal Rio de (); Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana (); International competition in , where she was a of Ballerina. She came to international prominence Janeiro and, in , for the Perm Ballet.
10 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 11 About the Artists About the Artists
Her television work includes her four-part Dance Th eatre, for the Houston Ballet, six Polina Semionova (special guest artist) was born Vladimir Shklyarov (special guest artist) was born Ballerina series, which she wrote and presented for London City Ballet, fi ve for Sadler’s Wells in Moscow in and is fi rst soloist with the in St. Petersburg. He was a prize-winner at the for the BBC; Assoluta and Th e Leningrad Legend Royal Ballet and works for the Royal Danish Berlin Staatsoper Ballet. Vaganova-Prix Ballet Competition there and grad- (BBC); In a Class of Her Own (Channel ); and Ballet, American Ballet Th eatre, the Rome and While studying at the Bolshoi Ballet School in uated from Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet Natasha (Th ames Television). She has also been Cologne Opera Houses, the Stuttgart Ballet the Moscow, she won awards in the top ballet competi- in . Before joining the Mariinsky Th eatre as a fi lmed in Swan Lake, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet and Royal Winnipeg Ballet, New London Ballet, tions, including a gold medal at the Moscow soloist in , Mr. Shklyarov was coryphée at the La Bayadère. Ms. Makarova wrote and presented Ballet Rambert, the Scottish Ballet, Northern International Ballet Competition, First Prize at Kirov Ballet. With a brilliant academic technique, the BBC documentary St. Petersburg to Tashkent Ballet Th eatre, the Dutch National Ballet, the the Vaganova-Prix Ballet Competition in good looks and expressiveness, he danced to criti- for the Great Railway Journeys series. Washington Ballet and Chicago City Ballet. St. Petersburg and Junior Prize at the Nagoya cal acclaim as partner to Evgenia Obraztsova in Ms. Makarova’s A Dance Autobiography was His work includes designs for Th e Sleeping (Japan) International Ballet Competition. La Sylphide, one of the two male soloists in Etudes, published by Knopf in . In , she recorded Beauty for the Munich Opera House, Anna After graduating from the Bolshoi School in Desire in Th e Sleeping Beauty and a role in Th e narrations of Th e Snow Queen, Prince Ivan and Th e Karenina and Th e Th ree Musketeers for the , Ms. Semionova joined the Ballet Staatsoper Vertiginous Th rill of Exactitude. Frog Princess and the Firebird for Delos Records, all Australian Ballet. Giselle for Texas and Rio de Berlin as a principal upon the invitation of His repertoire at the Mariinsky Th eatre in- of which received the American Library Association Janeiro, Swan Lake for the Royal Winnipeg Vladimir Malakhov, becoming the youngest prin- clude Giselle, Le Corsaire, La Bayadère, Th e Sleeping Award. She has also received the Dance Magazine Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet and, most recently, for cipal in the company’s history at the age of . She Beauty, Le Reveil de Flore and Th e Nutcracker, and Award for her distinguished career. the Tchaikovsky Perm Ballet, Th e Great Gatsby toured Japan as Malakhov’s partner, the reason he he has danced lead roles in Swan Lake and Romeo Natalia Makarova made her musical comedy for Pittsburgh Ballet Th eatre, Th e Nutcracker for had invited her to be a principal in the company. and Juliet. debut on Broadway in On Your Toes, winning nu- Cincinnati Ballet Company, La Sylphide for the He gave her the lead roles in Th e Nutcracker and merous awards, including the Tony Award as Best Teatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro, A Midsummer La Bayadère during her fi rst season, following with A graduate of the Perm Ballet School, Natalia Actress in a Musical, the Drama Desk Award, Night’s Dream for the Hirofumi Inoue Ballet de the role of Tatiana in Onegin, which became her Moiseeva-Poleschuk (principal) has danced on Outer Critics Circle Award, Th eatre World Award, Chambre in Tokyo and Balanchine’s Th eme and favorite role. the stage of the Perm Opera and Ballet Th eatre Astaire Award and the Stanislavsky Award. In Variations and Divertimento No. for Sadler’s In , at the age of , Polina starred as since . Her good looks, fi ne technical skills and , she starred in the West End production of Wells (now Birmingham) Royal Ballet. Odette/Odile with English National Ballet in Swan familiarity with the musical and dramatic meth- On Your Toes, for which she won the Laurence He collaborated on numerous occasions with Lake, receiving rave reviews from the English crit- ods of contemporary choreography have enabled Olivier Award. Robert Cohan and Robert North for London ics. Th e following year, she joined the California the young ballerina to perform the solo roles in On February , , after years’ absence, Contemporary Dance Th eatre. Th ese include Ballet in their production of Th e Sleeping Beauty, Th e Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, she was the fi rst artistic exile to be invited back to Cohan’s Stages, No-Man’s Land, Sky, Consolations again impressing critics despite what they deemed Giselle, Anyuta, Don Quixote and La Sylphide. perform in the Soviet Union. She returned to her of the Rising Moon, Stone Garden, In Memory, a disappointing ballet overall. Th e works with which Ms. Moiseeva is perhaps native St. Petersburg, where she danced with the Metamorphoses and Crescendo and North’s Meeting Her repertoire in Berlin includes roles in most closely associated are Th e Cavalry’s Halt, Th e Kirov Ballet on the stage where she began her ca- and Parting and Troy Game. Swan Lake, Th e Nutcracker, Th e Sleeping Beauty, Sleeping Beauty and Th e Nutcracker, in which she reer. A documentary of her historic visit, Makarova He designed Anna Karenina for the Ballet Cinderella, Onegin, Giselle, La Bayadère, Romeo and dances the principal roles. Returns, was shown on BBC television. de Santiago and for the Norwegian Ballet, La Juliet, Uwe Scholz’s Ein Lindentraum…, George Ms. Moiseeva’s second prize at the In , she made her debut as a dramatic Traviata for London City Ballet, Cinderella for Balanchine’s Ballet Imperial and Apollon musagète, Arabesk competition of young Russian ballet actress in the Chichester Festival production of the Cincinnati Ballet, Giselle for the Star Dancers MacMillan’s Manon, Robbins’ Afternoon of a Faun dancers affi rmed the promising dancer’s talent. Tovarich, which transferred to the West End. She Ballet Foundation in Tokyo, Coppélia for the and the title role in Sir Frederick Ashton’s Sylvia. Her duet with Vitaly Poleshchuk won a special returned to Russia in in the play Two for the Portuguese National Ballet and also for the Inoue In addition to her other awards, Ms. Semionova Ekaterina Maksimova-Vladimir Vasiliev Award Seesaw, performing in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Ballet Foundation in Tokyo and Th e Nutcracker won the “Daphne” Prize from the City of for “Best Duet” at the Arabesk competition. In , she starred in the Chichester production for Pittsburgh Ballet. He designed Kenneth Berlin, the German Dance Prize, the In , she won a silver medal at the competition of George Bernard Shaw’s Misalliance. Her most MacMillan’s Winter Dreams for the Royal Ballet German Critics’ Prize, and the BZ Culture in Nagoya, Japan. In , she received the distin- recent appearance on stage was in Noel Coward’s and Manon for the Australian, Vienna and Houston Prize, and was named “Dancer of the Year” by guished title, Honored Artist of Russia. Blithe Spirit in England, where she played the role ballets. In , he designed Peter Darrell’s Tales German dance critics in . of Elvira. Ms. Makarova continues to stage classi- of Hoff mann for the Hong Kong Ballet, and in Appearing in Herbert Grönemeyer’s music vid- Yaroslava Araptanova (principal), a native of cal ballets throughout the world. designed Ashton’s Birthday Off ering for the eo Demo (Letzter Tag), which was later uploaded to Perm, trained at the Perm Ballet School and joined Birmingham Royal Ballet. He has also designed the popular video website YouTube, brought her the Company in as a soloist. She has danced a Peter Farmer (set design) has designed for most of the full-length Butterfl y for the Australian Ballet into the public eye both in the dance community variety of roles, including Pas de trois in Swan Lake, the major ballet companies in the world, including and Swan Lake for English National Ballet at the and to the general public. Princess Florina and various fairies in Th e Sleeping seven ballets for the Royal Ballet, nine for London Royal Albert Hall in London. Beauty, and Solveig in Ben Stevenson’s Peer Gynt. Festival Ballet, for London Contemporary
12 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 13 About the Artists
She achieved her present rank of principal Recently added to his repertoire of classical with performances of Margarita in Master and works are Balanchine’s Donizetti Variations and Margarita, Maria in Th e Fountain of Bakhchisarai, Robbins’ Four Seasons, which won him both the Masha in Th e Nutcracker and Aurora in Th e critics and audiences acclaim. Sleeping Beauty. She has also portrayed the leading Sergey Mershin twice won the third prize at roles in Balanchine’s Serenade and La Sonnambula the Perm competition of ballet dances of Russia and in Robbins’ Four Seasons and Concert, as well “Arabesque” in and . as the Sylph in Fokine’s La Sylphide, and received praise for her lyrical interpretations of all of them. Robert Gabdullin (principal) was born in Last autumn, Yaroslava made her debut as Juliet in in Sverdlovsk, Russia. In , he fi nished his Prokofi ev’s Romeo and Juliet. studies at the School of Ballet of the municipal At the Arabesk competition, the young Ballet Th eatre “Nutcracker” in Ekaterinburg and Perm ballerina won George Zoritch’s Award for joined the Th eatre of Opera and Ballet there. Th e the purity of performance of classical ballet. young, promising dancer was almost immediately promoted to principal, and has performed the Sergey Mershin (principal) has been with the leading roles in La Sylphide, Th e Nutcracker, Swan Company since , the year of his graduation Lake, Cinderella and Th e Sleeping Beauty. from Perm Ballet School. Th is young, promising On the Perm stage, he dances all leading roles soloist was quickly promoted to principal, and of the classical repertoire and recently created the currently dances the leading roles in Swan Lake, main roles in Balanchine’s choreography and in Th e Nutcracker, Th e Fountain of Bakhchisarai, Robbins’ Four Seasons. Cinderella, Th e Kingdom of the Shades, Don Quixote, In April , he took part in Perm’s ballet Th e Sleeping Beauty, Th e Cavalry’s Halt and others. competition, Arabesk, and received a special Perm Th eatre Award.
14 CAL PERFORMANCES