St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre's Stunning, Passionate Carmen

Media Contact:

Kristen Gleason
Director of Marketing
The Paramount Theater
215 East Main Street
Charlottesville, VA 22902
434.979.1922 ext. 103
kristen@theparamount.net

For Immediate Release

February 22, 2008

Founded in 1966, The St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre is the “younger sibling” of the Russia’s renowned Kirov and Bolshoi Ballet Theatres. Called “striking,” with “electric choreography” and “mythology-influenced storytelling” (The Charlotte Observer), this acclaimed company brings its stunning full-length production of the ballet Carmen to The Paramount Theater.

This passionate story of love, jealousy, and tragedy is performed with elegant scenery, lavish costumes, and some of the best ballet stars in the world. Set to the famous Bizet score renowned for its unforgettable melodies and Spanish rhythms, the ballet transports audiences to 19th-century Seville where beautiful gypsy women seduce with a look, gamble on a caress, and play dangerous games of the heart.

Carmen will be performed on Friday, March 7 at 8 pm.

Gracefully portrayed and expressed through brilliant dance, the ballet Carmen follows the same story line as the beloved opera of the same name (both versions are based on the novella written by Prosper Mérimée).

A Spanish gypsy girl who leads men astray with her beauty and dancing, the flirtatious Carmen has a passionate affair with the jealous sergeant Don José. When the dashing toreador Escamillo comes on the scene, his interest in Carmen creates a love triangle that ultimately ends in tragedy for all. While a strong-willed, destructive siren, Carmen’s fierce passion wins audiences to her side, weaving a breathtaking tale.

The St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre occupies a very special place among the ballet theatres of the world. One of the most distinguished classical troupes in Russia -- where the city of St. Petersburg is considered to be the birthplace of Russian classical ballet -- it is also one of the few ballet companies on which the Russian government has bestowed the honor and high official status of “State and Academic Ballet,” along with the Kirov and the Bolshoi State and Academic Ballet Theatres.

St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre’s mastery of the high traditions of Russian ballet is evident in its entire repertoire of 80-plus classical and modern ballets. Nearly all of the company’s teachers, coaches, and dancers have studied and graduated from the revered Vaganova Ballet Academy.

Artistic Director of the St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre, acclaimed choreographer Yuri Petukhov has performed leading roles of both the classical and modern choreographic repertoires, including Albrecht (Giselle), Siegfried (Swan Lake), Romeo (Romeo and Juliet), Orpheus (Orpheus and Euridice), and many more. In international competition, Petukhov has received four first place awards (best choreography, three first prizes as balletmaster), and he continues to create new works.

Tickets for The St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre’s production of Carmen on Friday, March 7 are $60.50, $63.50, $66.50, and $71.50. Half-price student rush tickets and group discounts are also available.

Tickets are available online or through The Paramount’s Box Office at 434.979.1333.

For more information about The St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre, visit www.musiciansgallery.com/start/dancers/st_petersburg/ballet.htm.