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Bolshoi Ballet and Orchestra to sway people of Abu Dhabi

After last year’s extraordinary performances of Jose Carreras, Saint Petersburg Hermitage Orchestra and Cairo Symphony Orchestra, this year’s big name is going to be the Bolshoi Ballet and Orchestra.

Performing Tchaikovsky’s timeless Swan Lake ballet, the Bolshoi will be on stage at Emirates Palace Auditorium on March 26-27. Set in Germany, the tragic fairy tale tells the story of a beautiful princess, bewitched by an evil sorcerer to take the form of a swan by day.

Only love can break the spell and a prince does fall for her, but he is tricked by the sorcerer to give his promise to a different woman and, in despair, both the prince and his swan princess throw themselves in the lake.

The Swan Lake was first produced for the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in 1877 and the company has performed the ballet in several versions since.

Bolshoi Ballet, one of the principal ballet companies of Russia, is part of the Bolshoi Theatre, which also includes Russia’s premier opera company.

In 1773, the Bolshoi Ballet began as a dancing school for the Moscow Orphanage and established itself permanently in 1856. In its early decades, the ballet company competed for pre-eminence with the Maryinsky Theatre of St. Petersburg, but it was Aleksandr Gorsky, who revitalised the dance company in the early 20^th century, by introducing new ballets and world-renowned ballet dancers.

Apart from Bolshoi, ADMAF will also present during the 5^th Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Festival, scheduled for March 22-April 2, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Vladimir Jurowsky, and Naseer Shamma with Oriental Orchestra.

Also part of the festival will be an art exhibition by Tunisian artist Nja Mahdaoui, at the Emirates Palace Auditorium Foyer, from March 22–April 2.

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