On June 6, the Mariinsky Theater put on A Midsummer Night's Dream by George Balanchine as part of the Stars of the White Nights festival. The show was once dubbed by critics as A Dream about the Russian Ballet.
On June 6, the Mariinsky Theater put on A Midsummer Night's Dream by George Balanchine as part of the Stars of the White Nights festival.
The show was once dubbed by critics as A Dream about the Russian Ballet.
George Balanchine’s inspiration for writing the ballet came from his childhood in St. Petersburg and the shows at the Imperial Theater, in which Balanchine himself took part as a young graduate of the Imperial Theater School.
Performing in the ballet are the dancers Vasily Tkachenko, Yulia Stepanova, Andrei Solovev, Yelena Kondaurova, Konstantin Zverev, Irina Golub and others. Photo: Yulia Stepanova playing Helena, Vasily Tkachenko as Puck and Andrei Solovev in the role of Lysander.
In the role of Titania is Yekaterina Kondaurova. The world-famous costume designer Lusia Spinatelli created the magical costumes for the show, including for elves, fairies, queens and kings.
The world premiere of the show to the music of Mendelssohn took place in 1962. The dates for the premiere of the Mariinsky production are June 6 and 7.
