WHEN the St Petersburg Theatre Russian Ballet makes its debut performance in Kuala Lumpur next month with the Asian premiere of Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty, Malaysians can expect to be seeing more of this world-renowned troupe.
This ballet company is brought in by local dance collective The Dance Company which successfully brought in the first professional full-length ballet, Swan Lake, by Ballet West from the UK, last year.
The partnership between The Dance Company and St Petersburg Theatre Russian Ballet has given Malaysia the chance to be invited to join the Russian Seasons, in which Russian culture is presented to the public in a selected country throughout the year.
In addition, it was recently announced that the St Petersburg Theatre Russian Ballet has signed a three-year extended agreement to support the Visit Truly Asia Malaysia 2020 tourism campaign with at least three major feature performances here.
Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture secretary-general Datuk Isham Ishak said at the event that the ballet company’s performances will be placed on the Visit Truly Asia Malaysia calendar.
Meanwhile, for The Sleeping Beauty performance at the Plenary Hall, KLCC, on Oct 11 and 12, the St Petersburg Theatre Russian Ballet will be coming with a full team of 37 ballerinas to showcase their talent in executing this technically-challenging musical’s original choreography.
Isham said: “My ministry believes that this feature performance is the right direction forward in achieving our Visit 2020 goal of 30 million tourists.”
He added that big productions such as this will also benefit local students, who can learn the technical side of staging such large-scaled shows.
Russian Centre of Science and Culture director Dr Ayrat A. Akhmetov added that his centre will also be hosting the Russian Education Fair on the same days as The Sleeping Beauty shows.
The fair, he added, will offer an opportunity for Malaysians to explore what Russia has to offer in terms of higher learning opportunities.
Dance Artistry International (DAI) president Audrey Kwan also announced that besides the scheduled two-day performances for The Sleeping Beauty, they have now added two more performances (a matinee and a night show) on Oct 13.
Also present at the event were Tourism Malaysia director Syed Yahya Syed Othman, The Dance Company managing director Shannon Lee, Russia & Central Asia tourism ambassador Nagiz Safarova, and Malaysian dance icon Datuk Ramli Ibrahim
Ramli praised Kwan for getting one of the greatest classical ballet companies in the world to perform here.
“With the present problems we are facing globally, art is what is going to bring us together,” said Ramli, adding that it is also important to bring up the local dance scene.
For tickets to The Sleeping Beauty performance, visit the TicketCharge website.
