Russian National Ballet TheatRe - Krannert Center for the ...

Russian National Ballet TheatreElena Radchenko, artistic directorRomeo and Juliet | Tuesday-Wednesday, January 18-19, 2011, at 7pmCinderella | Thursday, January 20, 2011, at 7pmTryon Festival Theatre

exploration. exuberance. inspiration. reflection.[a message from the director]Krannert Center recognizes with gratitude these forward-looking supporters. Their unwavering belief inthe transformative potential of the arts creates moments of joy, power, and exploration that everyone inthis community can share.the act of givingIt is a great pleasure to welcome you to KrannertCenter, one of the world’s finest performing artscomplexes and a vibrant cultural public square.Its history is rich with meaningful moments ofshared experience. Moments of pure exuberance.Powerful inspiration. Courageous exploration.Soulful reflection.Throughout the 2010-2011 season, you will findartists from around the world, across our campus,and within our community bringing the Center tolife with their creative gifts and the human impulseto connect. To be with you. To share in the moment.Fully.I hope you will find yourself here often this seasonwith family, friends, and colleagues or on your ownto celebrate and carry forward the Center’s lifeaffirmingmission. Our doors are open wide.All good things,Mike RossDirectorJane Bishop Hobgood*Seven Previous SponsorshipsMasha & Brent Trenhaile*First Sponsorshipwork hard. play hard. experience deeply.2* photo credit Illini Studio 3

programsynopsisRussian National Ballet TheatreRomeo and JulietTuesday-Wednesday, January 18-19, 2011After William Shakespeare’s tragedyMusic by Pyotr Ilyich TchaikowskiChoreography by Elena Radchenko after MariusPetipaSets and costumes by Elena and Sergei RadchenkoLibretto by Elena and Sergei RadchenkoPrologueAct I20-minute intermissionAct IIThis program is subject to change.The Russian National Ballet Theatre appears byarrangement with:Andrew S. GrossmanColumbia Artists Management Inc.1790 Broadway, New York, NY 10019www.cami.comJulietRomeoMercutio Tibalt Paris Lorenzo Father Capulet Mother CapuletWet nurseAnd the corps de balletMaria PoliudovaMarianna TchemalinaEkaterina EgorovaMaria Kluevanadezhda IllarionovaDmitri SchemelininRuslan Mukhambetkalievvladimir StatniyDenis MorozovAlexander DaevEvgeny RudakovSamat AbdrakhmanovAlexander RudakovDmitri Romanovnatalia Ivanovanatalia SmirnovaPrologueThe souls of Romeo and Juliet meet together inQueen Mab’s world of dreams. They tell us the storyof their lives and love.Act IScene 1Daybreak. Dreamy Romeo walking along the streetmeets his bosom friends Mercutio and Benvolio.Time passes and the street fills with people. Thethree friends are in the center of the crowd. TheCapulets come. Mercutio picks a quarrel and aterrible fight begins. Women appeal to the fightersto stop.Scene 2Juliet is playing hide-and-seek with her nurse. Theold woman tells the young girl that she will growup soon and turn men’s heads. The appearance ofJuliet’s parents with Tibalt and Paris stops the game.The family prepares for a ball.Scene 3The ball in the Capulet house. Always the joker,Mercutio has neglected Queen Mab’s predictionabout a misfortune at the Capulets’ ball. He puts ona woman’s dress and begins to flirt with Tybalt. Forthe first time, Romeo catches sight of Juliet. The twoyoung hearts join in love. Tybalt sees Romeo andgets angry. Mercutio hurries to help his friend andattracts the wrath of Tybalt. Romeo and Juliet meetafter the ball and speak together of their feelings.Nothing can separate them now, not families,hatred, or even death.Act IIScene 1Mab plays with a rapier as Life and Death balance onits tip. Who will be the first to stick a rival’s breast?Scene 2It’s merriment in the street. The members of thecrowd greet their heroes Mercutio and Benvolio.They see Juliet’s nurse and decide to play a trick onher, but the nurse has a very important message forRomeo. She must tell him that Juliet is waiting forhim in the church. Still playing with the old nurse,Mercutio and Benvolio don’t notice that Tybalt andhis knights have passed by them. Remembering theirfooling Tybalt at the ball, Mercutio and Benvoliohave a good laugh at his expense.Scene 3Romeo arrives at the church where Juliet awaits.With their deep love, they marry in the eyes of God.Scene 4Romeo’s friends are still conversing with Juliet’snurse when the Capulets appear and break thepleasant mood. Tensions increase. Tybalt nowunderstands the trick that was played on him atthe ball. To regain his dignity, he has decided tofight Mercutio. Tybalt and Mercutio begin theirbattle. Arriving just in time, Romeo and Juliet tryto reconcile the fighters but their attempts are invain. Shortly, Mercutio is mortally wounded. As hedies, he asks Romeo to avenge his death. Romeoenters the battle and kills Tybalt. Juliet is in despairas she accuses her beloved of her brother’s death.But Queen Mab is above these human passions andaccompanies Tybalt and Mercutio to her spirit world,free of hate and enemies and the living.4 5

programScene 5Juliet has been betrothed to Paris but refuses tocooperate, which angers her parents. Juliet feelsalone in the world. After killing Tybalt, Romeo isexiled, and only dreaming can unite him with Juliet.Juliet cries for death and accepts a potion fromQueen Mab. She falls into a deep and lasting sleep.The next morning on Juliet’s wedding day, the nurseis unable to wake her. Everyone thinks she is dead.Her parents lament, and the heartbreaking news isdelivered to Romeo. He immediately goes to Juliet’sside but doesn’t want to believe she is dead. Indesperation, Romeo asks Mab what to do, but Mabkeeps her silence. Stricken with grief, Romeo kissesMab, but it’s a kiss of death, and Romeo falls to theground. Shortly, Juliet awakes only to find her loverdead. She runs herself through with Mab’s rapier tojoin Romeo. Their love overcomes their deaths, andthey live on in eternity.EpilogueA glooming peace this morning with it brings.The sun for sorrow will not show his head.Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;Some shall be pardon’d, and some punished;For never was a story of more woeThan this of Juliet and her Romeo.Russian National Ballet TheatreCinderellaThursday, January 20, 2011Music by Sergei ProkofievLibretto by Nicolai VolkovChoreography by Rostislav ZakharovSets and Costumes by Elisaveta DvorkinaLighting by Marina BorodinaAct ICinderella’s HouseAct IIThe Palace20-minute intermissionAct IIICinderella’s HouseCinderella Prince StepmotherTwo StepsistersFairy GodmotherJesterDance MasterFairies of the SeasonsSpringSummerAutumnWinterAmbassadorsMauritanianSpanishChineseRussianAnd the Corps de BalletMarianna TchemalinaMaria KluevaRuslan MukhambetkalievAlexander DaevAlexander DaevEvgeny RudakovElena Khoroshevaviktoria KrakhmalevaEkaterina EgorovaDidar SarsembaevRuslan MukhambetkalievMarat Abdrakhmanovviktoria KrakhmaliovaAnna PetushinovaEkaterina PankovskayaMaria KluevaSamat AbdrakhmanovDmitri SchemelininKalel AlmasAlexander ButenkoThis program is subject to change.The Russian National Ballet Theatre appears byarrangement with:Andrew S. GrossmanColumbia Artists Management Inc.1790 Broadway, New York, NY 10019www.cami.com6 7

synopsisAct I: Cinderella’s HouseCinderella’s stepmother is busily embroidering ascarf she will wear to the palace ball that evening.Cinderella’s father is also in the room, and thestepsisters tease him unmercifully. Cinderella entersand stops them. They turn on her furiously, andher stepmother orders her to clean the room. Thestepsisters drag Cinderella’s father from the room.Cinderella begins sweeping as ordered, takes aportrait of her deceased mother from its hidingplace, and gazes at it longingly. Her father returnsand is overcome with remorse when he sees theresemblance between Cinderella and his first wife.His daughter lovingly tries to reassure him, but theyare dragged apart by the stepsisters, who also snatchaway the picture.Suddenly, the door opens and an old woman enters,begging. The stepmother gives her the picture ofCinderella’s mother to get rid of it, but the beggarwoman sees the resemblance to Cinderella andhands it to her. Cinderella offers the woman somebread, which she accepts and then departs.A dressmaker and wigmaker arrive to adorn thestepsisters for the ball, and a dancing master followswho attempts the impossible task of teaching thestepsisters the rudiments of dancing. The familydeparts for the ball, with the exception of Cinderella,who remains behind. She tries to assuage herloneliness by pretending that the kitchen broom isher partner at the ball, but the pretense is too muchfor her, and she bursts into tears. At this moment, thebeggar woman returns and changes into a beautifulfairy godmother, who transforms the kitchen into aforest, complete with dragonflies swooping amongthe trees.The fairy godmother gives Cinderella a pair of glassslippers, and the fairies of spring, summer, autumn,and winter perform for her, changing the seasonsas they dance. Cinderella’s rags become a beautifulgown, but the fairy godmother shows her a clockand warns her that at midnight, the magic gownwill change back into rags. She then transforms apumpkin and four lizards into a coach and horses,and Cinderella is driven to the ball like a princess.Act II: The PalaceAt the palace, a jester welcomes the arriving guests,who are all somewhat taken aback by the stepsisters.The prince enters and greets the assembly, thengallantly invites each of the stepsisters in turn todance with him, much to the amusement of theguests. At this moment, the ball is interrupted bythe arrival of Cinderella in her coach, and the princeimmediately falls in love with her. The guests areoffered oranges—the rarest food to be had—andwhen one of the stepsisters is left without one,Cinderella gives up her own, without the stepsisterrealizing her identity. While the prince and Cinderellaare dancing together, the clock strikes midnight.Cinderella’s clothes turn to rags, and she rushes fromthe ballroom. The prince cannot restrain her butfinds one of the glass slippers that she has lost in herhaste.Act III: Cinderella’s HouseBack in the kitchen, Cinderella remembers the ball asif it were a beautiful dream but finds the remainingglass slipper in one of her pockets. She quicklyhides it as the stepsisters return, proudly displayingthe oranges the prince gave them. Cinderella’sstepmother announces the arrival of the prince withhis jester and courtiers in search of the owner ofthe glass slipper they bear with them. Each of thestepsisters in turn vainly tries to squeeze an oversizedfoot into the tiny slipper. When the prince noticesCinderella sitting shyly by the fire, he asks her fatherif she may try it on. As she moves to do so, thesecond slipper falls from her pocket. The prince isoverjoyed in spite of Cinderella’s ragged appearanceand asks her to marry him. Cinderella forgives herstepmother and stepsisters for their previous crueltyto her.As the prince returns the glass slipper to the fairygodmother, the kitchen is transformed into a magicglade where Cinderella and her prince dance aromantic pas de deux. The guests return to acclaimtheir new princess at her betrothal.8 9

ussian national ballet theatreElena Radchenko, artistic directorThe Russian National Ballet Theatre was founded inMoscow during the transitional period of perestroikain the late 1980s, when many of the great dancersand choreographers of the Soviet Union’s balletinstitutions were exercising their newfound creativefreedom by starting new, vibrant companiesdedicated not only to the timeless tradition ofclassical Russian ballet but also to an invigoration ofthis tradition as the Russians began to accept newdevelopments in the dance from around the world.The company, then called the Soviet National Ballet,was founded by and incorporated graduates fromthe great Russian choreographic schools of Moscow,St. Petersburg, and Perm. The principal dancersof the company came from the upper ranks of thegreat ballet companies and academies of Russiaand the companies of Riga, Kiev, and even Warsaw.Today, the Russian National Ballet Theatre is its owninstitution, with more than 50 dancers of singularinstruction and vast experience, many of whomhave been with the company since its inception. Thecompany is currently on a four-month coast-to-coasttour of the United States.In 1994, the legendary Bolshoi principal dancer ElenaRadchenko was selected by presidential decree toassume the first permanent artistic directorship of thecompany. Radchenko is the founder of the RussianNational Ballet Theatre, and she has focused thecompany on upholding the grand national traditionof the major Russian ballet works and developingnew talents throughout Russia, with a repertory ofvirtually all of the great full works of Petipa: DonQuixote, La Bayadère, The Sleeping Beauty, SwanLake, Raymonda, Paquita, Coppélia, and La Sylphide,as well as productions of, among others, TheNutcracker, Sylvia, and La Fille mal gardée.10 11