Eugene: Konstantin Zverev
Parasha: Elena Yevseyeva
Peter I: Vladimir Ponomarev
The Queen of the Ball: Oxana Skorik
Columbine: Sofia Ivanova-Skoblikova
Harlequin: Vasily Tkachenko
Balakirev the Jester: Vladislav Shumakov
Premiere of Rostislav Zakharov's version: 14 March 1949, Kirov Opera and Ballet Theatre (Mariinsky Theatre)
Premiere of the ballet, staged by Yuri Smekalov: 31 March 2016, Mariinsky Theatre
Running time 3 hours
The performance has two intervals
The revival of forgotten but once-loved productions has been a trend of the Mariinsky Theatre over the last seventeen years. The appearance The Bronze Horseman is a continuation of this course. But if previously old ballets were revived and scrupulously reconstructed from archive materials or from personal memories of performers who danced in them, then here we have an antique adapted to the modern day. In the new Bronze Horseman we still have the choreographic structure of Rostislav Zakharov’s production, created in 1949: those who appeared in the ballet in the 1980s have demonstrated their roles to today’s performers. And it was Yuri Smekalov who has brought the dance modesty of that drama-ballet to match contemporary interests of today’s performers and the habits of today’s audiences – there are more leaps and complex pirouettes in the choreographic text. “In my production I am trying to retain Zakharov’s choreographic idea, but I want to show it in a different light so that the ballet has meaning for the audience today”, Yuri Smekalov said. If the dances have been only partially revived then the stage décor of the Stalinist era has been fully rejected, and much of what mid-20th century audiences contemplated, submitting to the pathétique of Glière’s music, has today been executed using computer graphics. The patina of time an antique souvenir has been removed, giving The Bronze Horseman a modern gloss. Olga Makarova
The highlighting of performances by age represents recommendations.
This highlighting is being used in accordance with Federal Law N436-FZ dated 29 December 2010 (edition dated 1 May 2019) "On the protection of children from information that may be harmful to their health"