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RAT: Ballet
ST.PETERSBURG MALE BALLET
The company was established in 1992 and in the Dyagilev Seasons International Festival was called a sensation and a revolution in the Russian ballet. The Artistic director and leading dancer Valery Mikhailovsky was known for Boris Eifman's ballets such as "The Idiot", "The Boomerang", "Master and Margarita" and "Figaro's Wedding".The company uses no scenery in the performance; the artistic decor is by lighting and costume. The company consists of ten dancers in the cast and 3-5 persons in support and management. Performance duration (two parts) - 90 min. The company's fee per one performance $3.000 - 6.000 depending on the country, conditions and duration of tour.Dance June 1993
And concerning the male figure in ballet, St.Petersburg's most striking conceptial breakthroughmay be the recent birth, last October, of the six-man Troupe of Male Dancers of Valery Mikhalovsky. The company performs classical concert numbers, such as Anton Dolin's Pas de Quatre or Petipa's pas de six from Esmeralda, in full drag and on pointe.
The classics are not all that Mikhailovsky's dancers do. In the Image and Likeness of... This is a grave affair in which a son of God comes down to earth in white tights and top to comfort anguished and isolated human (male) beings.
The Moscow Tribune April 24, 1993
MEN DANCE BETTER THAN WOMEN?...This all male company has a different approach from other all male dance groups; they dance classical pieces, written for men and women, but have men dancing the female roles. This has never been done before. So some of the company will don tutus or flimsy skirts to perform Saint-Saen's The Dying Swan or Caesar Puni's Pas de Quatre.
But the first half of the performance will be men dressed as men, dancing original Mikhailovky choreography to the music of Peter Gabriel with a libretto based on a poem by William Blake.
"We try to revive the pure classical style," Mikhailevsky commented, "and we're not trying to scandalise the audience." He drew parallels between his company's work and midieval mystery plays or traditional Japanese theatre.
For more information contact Russian American Centre, USA
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