From 17 to 26 December 2020, the XXXIII International Festival of Classical Ballet named after Rudolf Nureyev will be held on the stage of the Tatar State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater named after M. Jalil. The ballet forum was supposed to be held in Kazan in May 2020, but due to the pandemic it was postponed to December.

The festival program will include eight performances. First of all, these are performances of the M. Jalil Theater with  participation of guest stars and leading soloists of the Kazan troupe: the playbill includes masterpieces of the classical repertoire – “Swan Lake” by P. Tchaikovsky, “La Bayadere” and “Don Quixote” by L. Minkus, as well as the main national ballet “Shurale” F. Yarullin (show on December 21 is dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the creation of the play). In addition, within the framework of the festival, two invited ballet companies will arrive at once: the theater “Kremlin Ballet” will present for the first time in Kazan the play “Ruslan and Lyudmila” to the music of M. Glinka-V. Agafonnikov, the ballet theater of Boris Eifman – the play “Anna Karenina” music by P. Tchaikovsky. The performances of the invited groups will be accompanied by soundtracks.

Soloists from leading Russian theaters have been invited to take part in the performances of the festival. Olga Smirnova, Jacopo Tissi, Maria Vinogradova, David Motta Soares, Mark Chino and others are expected to represent the Bolshoi Theater troupe. The role of Solor in La Bayadère will be performed by the Mariinsky Theater premier Kimin Kim, the role of Basil in Don Quixote will be played by the world ballet star Ivan Vasiliev (Mikhailovsky Theater). The main roles in the play “Shurale” will be performed by the soloists of TASTO&B  after M.Dzhalil Kristina Andreeva, Mikhail Timayev and Oleg Ivenko.

The International Festival of Classical Ballet named after Rudolf Nureyev is annually held on the stage of the Tatar Academic State Opera and Ballet Theater named after I. Musa Jalil since 1987.

In the spring of 1992, at the invitation of the director of the Tatar Opera House Raufal Mukhametzyanov, Rudolf Nuriyev visited Kazan. The outstanding dancer signed an employment agreement with the theater management on cooperation at the Kazan Ballet Festival. On May 21, 1992, Rudolf Nureyev performed on the stage of the Tatar Opera and Ballet Theater: the maestro conducted the Nutcracker performance. Since 1993, with the personal consent of Rudolf Nureyev himself, the classical dance festival in Kazan bears his name.

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