The world famous Moscow Ballet is set to visit St. Louis this month, performing the famous "Nutcracker" ballet. The performance will be at UM-St. Louis's Touhill Performing Arts Center. This year's tour will mark the company's 12th year performing in the United States. The tour company will visit over 80 cities in the United States, including St. Louis, New York and Los Angeles. There are 100 dancers in the company, who are from Russia, the Ukraine, Georgia and other former Soviet Republics. The dancers are some of the best Russian dancers. Some are even winners of the International Ballet Competitions. The productions are rehearsed and prepared in Moscow. Artistic directors Valery Lantratov and Anatoli Emelianou design and choreograph the productions. The ballet is produced by Akiva Talmi. According to the company's website, this "tour is the largest fine arts tour of its kind." The tour is family-oriented and fun for everyone. Aside from "The Nutcracker," the Moscow Ballet also performs "Swan Lake." Soon the company will be performing "Cinderella" and "The Flying Alexandrovs." "The Nutcracker" was completed by Russian composer Tschaikovsky in 1892 and remains one of the most popular ballets. The Moscow Ballet has a United States based website at www.nutcracker.com, that offers information as well as fun facts. There is a store that offers books, CDs, DVDs of performances, lacquer boxes and nesting dolls. Tickets to their performances, as well as photos, can be purchased online. The website also offers interesting facts about the company. For example, the dancers in the Moscow Ballet wear two pairs of shoes for each performance, adding up to 400 pairs of shoes a year per dancer. The company combined goes through 4,000 pairs of shoes a year. Another interesting fact is that a performance that lasts three hours is equal to two 90 minute soccer games back to back. A dancer who weighs 120 pounds can burn close to 1,000 calories an hour. "The Nutcracker" will be at UM-St. Louis's Touhill Performing Arts Center for three days, starting on Nov. 15 and ending on Nov. 17. All shows will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase for $26, $36, $46 and $64, depending on seats. The show promises to be beautiful, exciting and breathtaking and will please all viewers, whether or not they are fans of ballet.
The Current > Arts and Entertainment
Moscow Ballet will bring 'The Nutcracker' to the PAC
Published: Monday, November 15, 2004
Updated: Saturday, October 10, 2009
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