PROGRAMME

Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich:
The Sleeping Beauty

(Programme is subject to change)

ABOUT THE EVENT

For his ballet, The Sleeping Beauty, about the story of the beautiful sleeping princess and the brave prince who wakes her up with a kiss, Tchaikovsky composed some of his most beautiful music. The magnificent stage design of the Latvian National Ballet production takes the audience to the wonderland of fairies, beauties, and beasts. 

Choreographer Aivars Leimanis: "For the Latvian National Ballet, the new production of The Sleeping Beauty is not only a special event, it is also a matter of honour. Among the ballets that "simply have to be" in our repertory, the first three positions should be taken by all three ballets of Pyotr Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty. Finally, we have achieved the full list of Tchaikovsky's ballets.

The Sleeping Beauty is the standard of the classical ballet. It requires from the dancers an impeccable taste of style and particularly rounded positions of arms and legs. The action of this ballet is less dynamic compared to the other two ballets by Tchaikovsky. However, The Sleeping Beauty has a particular romanticism and elegance. Life at the royal courts had little in common with the rush of today's life. Besides, this ballet suits our troupe very well: it has many larger and smaller roles, it has technically demanding scenes created not only for the leads, but also for fairies, gems and other small roles. In my opinion, this ballet contains one of the most difficult female roles in classical ballet: only the best ballerinas can dance the role of Princess Aurore. Besides, there is only one princess in the fairy tale, but we have three princesses on our stage: Jūlija Gurviča - refined and fragile like a doll made out of Sevres porcelain, Elza Leimane - sincere and genuine, and Sabīne Guravska, gifted by nature with a charming presence.

Production:
Choreographer: Aivars Leimanis
Conductor: Farhads Stade, Atvars Lakstīgala
Set and Costume Designer: Inara Gauja
Lighting Designer: Kārlis Kaupužs
Make-up Designer: Elita Klāra

Cast:
Princess Aurora: Jūlija Gurviča, Elza Leimane-Martinova, Sabīne Guravska
Prince Desire: Aleksei Avechkin, Raimonds Martinovs, Sergei Neikshin
The Lilac Fairy: Alise Prudāne
The Evil Fairy Carabosse: Ieva Rācene
Princess Florine: NN
The Blue Bird: Arturs Sokolovs, Zigmārs Kirilko
Fairies: Margarita Karpoviča
Puss-in-Boots: Antons Freimans
The White Tabby Cat: Kristīne Kitnere, Vladislava Demčenko-Pučkova
Little Red Riding Hood: Nataļja Lipska, Jevgeņija Trautmane
The Gray Wolf: Arturs Skuteļskis
Diamond: Rita Lukašēvica, Jolanta Lubeja
Jewels: Nataļja Samborska, Aleksandra Astreina, Laine Paiķe, Jeļena Dzalbo, Iļana Puhova, Yuka Miyake
Cinderella: Tatjana Vasiļčenko, Kristīne Vaņina, Milana Komarova
Prince Charming: Viktors Seiko, Sergejs Sosnovskis
Master of the Ceremonies: Andris Pudāns, Intars Kleinhofs

Last update 2012 Editorial Team Classictic.com

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Artists of The Sleeping Beauty: Latvian National Ballet

Latvian National Ballet

, Dance Company

The Latvian National Ballet is the only professional ballet company in Latvia. The more than eighty-year history of Latvian ballet has close ties with the finest traditions of the Russian school of classical ballet. In this way, the classical Russian ballet traditions were passed down from generation to generation, and eventually gave the world such ballet stars as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Māris Liepa, and Alexandr Godunov, each of whom trained right here in Riga.

The Latvian ballet was born on December 1, 1922 (though the company had begun to form much earlier - it was founded in 1918 as a part of Latvian Opera company under the leadership of ballet master Voldemārs Komisārs). That night, the curtain opened on the company’s first full-length production, Peter Ludwig Hertel’s La Fille mal Gardée, which was based on Marius Petipa’s 1885 St. Petersburg production of the work and was staged by Nikolai Sergeyev. In 1920s, ex-prima ballerina of Mariinsky Theatre Alexandra Fyodorova, a member of the renowned Fokin family, began to work as a ballet dancer and choreographer staging many ballet performances on the basis of Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov, and Mikhail Fokin choreography. Under her direction, the company gained considerable artistic respectability and technical progress. In 1932, Anatole Viltzak, former ballet soloist of Mariinsky Theatre, Serge Diaghilev Russian Ballet Company and other famous European ballet companies, became the head of the LNO Ballet. The talanted dancer and choreographer Osvalds Lēmanis was the chief ballet master of the LNO Ballet in 1934-1944. After the Second World War the ballet was entrusted to Helēna Tangijeva-Birzniece; she had studied in St. Petersburg with the legendary ballet teacher Agrippina Vaganova. Helēna Tangijeva-Birzniece was predecessor of Yevgeny Čanga, Irēna Strode, Aleksandrs Lembergs, Janīna Pankrate, Modris Cers, Lita Beiris in later years, and Aivars Leimanis who is the LNO Ballet Artistic Director since 1993.

Today, the Latvian National Ballet’s repertoire is founded on the pearls of classical ballet – like Giselle, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Le Corsaire – as well as classic productions by contemporary choreographers that have become audience favorites, such as Romeo and Juliet, Coppélia, The Fountain of Bakhchisaray, and The Bright Stream. The legendary choreographer Boris Eifman complex and refined ballet Anna Karenina and the Argentinean choreographer Mauricio Wainrot’s Tango Plus/Voyages enrich the repertoire with elements of modern dance and show our dancers’ adeptness in contemporary ballet. Occasionally the repertoire includes production written by modern-day composers – both original ballets (such as Juris Karlsons’s Sidraba šķidrauts (The Silver Veil) and Arturs Maskats’s Les Liaisons Dangereuses) and dance performances inspired by specific musical works (like Pēteris Vasks’s piano quartet/ballet Skaidri neredzams (Apparently Unseen) and Arturs Maskats Tango).

Aivars Leimanis has been the Latvian National Ballet’s artistic director since 1993. Leimanis has focused his attention on both revivals of classical ballets and collaborative projects with renowned choreographers, including Boris Eifman (Russia), Krzyzstof Pastor (Poland), Vladimir Vasilyev (Russia), Alla Sigalova (Russia), Radu Poklitaru (Moldova/Belarus), Thierry Malandain (France), Christian Spuck (Germany), and Petr Zuska (Czech Republic). The Latvian National Ballet has presented guest performances at the Theater du Chatelet, in Paris; the Bolshoi Theater, in Moscow; the Teatro La Fenice, in Venice; the Rome Opera House; Edinburgh’s Festival Theater; the Maison de la Danse, in Lyon; the Stanislavsky Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater, in Moscow; and on many other stages all over the world.