Ballet in three acts by the Yekaterinburg Opera and Ballet Theater
The theater preserves and adapts classical ballet works from the 19th century, stages the most important works of the 20th century, and creates new works for the 21st century. The theater has won the Golden Mask, the “Oscar” of the Russian theater world, and premiered works such as “Paquita”, The Order of the King, and The Little Humpbacked Horse. The theater’s ballet performances are presented at international festivals and broadcast on the Mezzo TV channel.
The main character of the ballet “Paquita”, a short name for “Francesca”, is a beautiful gypsy orphan who goes through an oppressed childhood, but discovers her noble roots and finds true love with a young officer. The ballet was first performed in Paris in 1846, but only achieved success in 1881 in St. Petersburg to the choreography of Marius
The Ural Opera and Ballet Theatre was founded in Yekaterinburg in 1912 and within two years had premiered its first ballet. In 2012, a new chapter in the company’s history began when choreographer Vyacheslav Smodorov took over as artistic director. Petipa. The original three-act version is the basis for this updated production, created by dance critic Pavel Gershenzon and choreographer Sergei Viharev – a duo that has raised the bar for reworkings of classic works. Press reviews have described the performance as “the major ballet premiere of the decade.”
The show’s creators reworked the 1881 choreography based on notes preserved in the Harvard Theatre Collection, and updated the original libretto in the spirit of 20th-century culture. The original music by Édouard-Marie-Ernest Deldews was re-composed by Yuri Krasvin.
The show premiered on February 22, 2018.
