The "Imperial Russian Ballet" company will present Swan Lake at the stage of the Cairo Opera House, on 7, 8 and 9 March. The company will be joined by two ballet stars from the Mikhaylovsky theatre in St. Petersburg: Anton Ploom in the role of Prince Siegfried and Anastasia Lomachenkova as Odette/Odile. The "Imperial Russian Ballet" was created in 1994 in Moscow by soloist of Bolshoi theatre Gedeminas Taranda, the troupe's Artistic Director and soloist of Igor Moiseyev' Folk Dance company Nikolai Anokhine. The company consists of 45 young dancers from the major ballet schools of Russia and cooperates with many renowned soloists from a variety of best ballet troupes. Moscow-based, the company travels extensively around the world, presenting their varied repertoire which apart of the Swan Lake also includes other classics such as The Nutcracker, Don Quixote and Sleeping Beauty. Performed in two acts to the music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the Swan Lake by the Imperial Russian Ballet is based on the choreography by Marius Petipa who designed the palace scenes and Lev Ivanov who created scenes next to the lake. For over a century, this version is considered to have reached an absolute perfection and beauty, and has become a foundation for all the choreographers. In their take on Swan Lake, the company dances to this choreography, yet it is additionally revised by G. Taranda. It is the second time for the Swan Lake to hit the Cairo Opera House's stage this year. The ballet has been recently performed by the Cairo Opera Ballet Company to the choreography of Petipa, Ivanov and late Abdel-Moneim Kamel, revived by the company's current artistic director, Erminia Kamel. Programme: 7, 8 and 9 March, at 8pm Cairo Opera House, main hall, Zamalek, Cairo For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture
