Ekho Abkhazii, Sukhumi
PAGES OF BALLET HISTORY is an interactive program for children with the participation of ballet soloists from leading Moscow theaters.
The program introduces young audiences to the art of ballet in an easily understood and attractive manner, tells of its origins, development and characteristics, demonstrates different styles of dance and acquaints the audience with ballet terminology. It also presents live interpretations of classical dances and relates the lives of famous composers, dancers and choreographers and the stories of celebrated ballets. Participants perform in the program excerpts from the ballet classics “The Nutcracker,” “The Sleeping Beauty” and “Don Quixote.” Video material is shown on a large screen, including excerpts from masterpieces of ballet as performed by some of Russia’s most brilliant dancers.
Hosting the program is Yelena Federenko, a trained expert in the arts, ballet critic and editor of the music section of the newspaper Kultura. Yelena establishes a superb rapport with her young listeners, speaking with them throughout the program, posing and answering questions and drawing them into it.
A highlight of the program is a video clip of amusing and funniest incidents in ballet from the collection of Anton Domashev, a soloist of the ballet troupe of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater in Moscow.
Taking part in the program are soloists of Vyacheslav Gordeyev’s Theater “Russian Ballet” and the Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasilyov Moscow Theater of Classical Âallet, as well as artists of other Moscow musical theaters. Audience members receive a dictionary of dance terminology, written in easily understood language and presented in the form of a game.
The program is suitable for audiences of all ages.
PAGES OF BALLET HISTORY was created in 2011 as part of Cultural Seasons of Russia and the Republic of Abkhazia and was presented with great success at the Abkhazia State Philharmonic in Sukhumi. It was the first youth project undertaken by RUS ART in 2011 and was carried out with support from Ministries of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Abkhazia.
The participants in the program opened up to their young viewers the brightest pages of ballet history and proved of interest both to those who already dreamed of dancing on stage and to those for whom it was a first encounter with the wonders of ballet.
Sponsor of the program was the Russian company Grishko, an internationally known manufacturer of ballet shoes and dance clothing. The company specially produced ballet shoes and souvenirs as presents for the pupils of the Sukhumi Dance School.
The principal information sponsor of the project was the magazine Balet, Russia’s only professional dance publication. PAGES OF BALLET HISTORY can be recommended as an educational project of high quality for young audiences. It is especially in demand in regions that lack a permanent ballet theater, where it often serves to give young audience members their first acquaintance with the beautiful art of ballet.
