The Russian National Ballet Theatre presents "Giselle" at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 29, In Pfeiffer Hall. The company was founded in Moscow by Elena Radchenko during the transitional period of Perestroika in the late 1980s, when many of the great dancers and choreographers of the Soviet Union's ballet institutions were exercising their new-found creative freedom by starting new, vibrant companies dedicated not only to the timeless tradition of classical Russian Ballet but to invigorate this tradition as the Russians began to accept new developments in the dance from around the world.
Radchenko has focused the company on upholding the grand national tradition of the major Russian ballet works and developing new talents throughout Russia, with a repertory of virtually all of the great full works of Petipa: "Don Quixote," "La Bayadere," "The Sleeping Beauty," "Swan Lake," "Raymonda," "Paquita," "Coppelia" and "La Sylphide," as well as productions of, "The Nutcracker," "Sylvia" and "La Fille Mal Gardee."
"Giselle" is the story of a peasant girl who dies of a broken heart after discovering her lover is betrothed to another. The Wilis, a group of supernatural women who dance men to death, summon Giselle from her grave.
The Russian National Ballet Theatre presents "Giselle" at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 29, In Pfeiffer Hall. The company was founded in Moscow by Elena Radchenko during the transitional period of Perestroika in the late 1980s, when many of the great dancers and choreographers of the Soviet Union's ballet institutions were exercising their new-found creative freedom by starting new, vibrant companies dedicated not only to the timeless tradition of classical Russian Ballet but to invigorate this tradition as the Russians began to accept new developments in the dance from around the world.
Radchenko has focused the company on upholding the grand national tradition of the major Russian ballet works and developing new talents throughout Russia, with a repertory of virtually all of the great full works of Petipa: "Don Quixote," "La Bayadere," "The Sleeping Beauty," "Swan Lake," "Raymonda," "Paquita," "Coppelia" and "La Sylphide," as well as productions of, "The Nutcracker," "Sylvia" and "La Fille Mal Gardee."
"Giselle" is the story of a peasant girl who dies of a broken heart after discovering her lover is betrothed to another. The Wilis, a group of supernatural women who dance men to death, summon Giselle from her grave.