One of the world’s most renowned dance companies returns to Salisbury University Thursday-Friday, March 8-9, as SU’s Cultural Affairs Office presents the Moscow Festival Ballet.
The troupe offers two performances: Don Quixote on Thursday, March 8, and The Gala Program on Friday, March 9. Curtain is 8 p.m. in Holloway Hall Auditorium.
Sergei Radchenko, former principal dancer of the Bolshoi Ballet, founded the Moscow Festival Ballet in 1989, seeking to realize his vision of a company that would bring together the classical elements of the Bolshoi and Kirov ballet companies within the framework of Russian classical ballet. He serves as the company’s artistic director.
The productions presented at SU showcase some of Russia’s leading dancers. Don Quixote depicts Miguel de Cervantes Saaverda’s 17th-century story of an old nobleman who believes he is called to knightly deeds. He seeks adventures in the service of the beautiful Dulcinea, whom he has glimpsed in a vision.
The Gala Program is a celebration of choreography preserved by the company over the past five decades. The performance includes Marius Petipa’s Paquita from the former Imperial Russian Ballet, the “Kingdom of the Shades” duet from La Bayadere and Michel Fokine’s “Dying Swan,” originally choreographed for Anna Pavlova and set to Saint-Saens’ Le Cygne, among other selections.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal hailed the Moscow Festival Ballet as a troupe “that deserved ‘bravos’ within minutes of the opening steps.” The Charleston (SC) Post and Courier raved, “The dancers of the Moscow Festival Ballet spoke to the soul.”
The ballet’s SU performances are sponsored by the President’s, Provost’s and Cultural Affairs offices, and Charles R. and Martha N. Fulton School of Liberal Arts. Tickets are $15 per performance, available at the Guerrieri Student Union Information Desk beginning Monday, January 29, for SU students, faculty and staff; Friday, February 9, for the greater community.
SU Dining Services commemorates the troupe’s visit with a special “Don Quixote Spanish Dinner” 4:30-7:30 p.m. Friday, March 8, in the Commons.
The menu includes chicken and beef empanadas, pisto (Spanish ratatouille), saffron rice with peas, tri-lentil stew, churros with chocolate sauce, a rice pudding bar and mock sangria.
Part of this spring’s International Dinner Series, cost is $13.50, $8.15 for children ages 6 and under. Reservations are not required.
