Russia’s Kirov Ballet comes to The Lowry

May 9 2008 by Michael Green, Flintshire Chronicle

A Russian army will invade The Lowry at Salford Quays next week, to the delight of dance fans throughout the north west.

The world-famous Kirov Ballet and its orchestra are making their second visit to the venue from May 13-17 with a programme that reflects their cultural heritage and includes the prestigious Jewels and Don Quixote productions.

With the dancers and musicians have come the troops: ballet masters, management, technical and backstage staff needed for the exacting performances of this eagerly awaited St Petersburg company.

Preparations began a year ago and led to the shipping of three containers of sets, lighting rigs, costumes and up to 500 pairs of pointe shoes.

The large musical instruments come by sea, the smaller ones travelling as precious hand luggage with the players.

Tour manager Paul Godfrey said: ‘There are so many sensational costumes and all have to be carefully packed, every ear-ring, every backdrop accounted for.

“I am just relieved I no longer have to worry about the donkey in Don Quixote. The Kirov stopped using live animals in productions some years ago!’

Under artistic director Valery Gergiev and led by the exquisite Uliana Lopatkina, the company will perform two full-length ballets, plus a gala evening of balletic fireworks.

The three-act Jewels is a succession of stylistically diverse classical scenes which take their tone from the jewels they are named after: elegant Emeralds, set to Faure, jazzy Rubies, to Stravinsky, and glittering Diamonds, to Tchaikovsky.

Don Quixote, choreographed by the great classicist Marius Petipa, tells a romantic love story and bristles with authentic Spanish dances, bullfighters and gypsies.

The gala evening is a box of delights that includes Fokine’s one-act ballet, Chopiniana, sometimes known as Les Sylphides, his dreamy La Spectre de la Rose, and the sublime Kingdom of Shades from La Bayadere, which perfectly shows off the Kirov’s legendary corps de ballet.

Audiences can experience ballet both on and off stage, for upstairs in the Lowry’s galleries can be seen the beautiful paintings of dancers by leading British impressionist Dame Laura Knight.

Born in 1877, leading socialite, first female member of the Royal Academy, an official World War II artist, this remarkable woman was inspired by the theatre after she was granted backstage access to Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes in London.

Her images of rehearsal studios, dressing rooms, stage wings and curtain calls extend the audience’s view and provide both glorious views of theatrical splendour and the quiet personal study.

The exhibition, due to run until July 6, has more than eighty such works from public and private collections, many of which have never been exhibited before. It’s a unique opportunity for both art and ballet lovers.

Opening hours will be extended until 7.30pm on May 15-16, giving ballet-goers the opportunities to see how one art form can inspire another.

Also on May 15, at 5.30pm and 6.30pm, Timothy Wilcox, curator of Laura Knight at the Theatre, will lead free tours.

Tickets are available on www.thelowry.com, or call 0870 787 5793. Jewels will be performed on Monday and Tuesday; gala programme on Wednesday; Don Quixote on Friday and Saturday. Prices range from £35 to £95.