The Russian Ballet

For all the beauty that we saw in St. Petersburg, nothing was more stunning than the ballet at the Mariinsky Theater.  The flat where we stayed was only a few blocks from the theater so one of our first tasks after arriving was to walk over and check the box office.  It was just our luck that the La Bayadére ballet had a few tickets remaining in two separate boxes to the right of the stage.  We knew nothing about La Bayadére, but we figured regardless of what was playing, we had to see at least one real Russian ballet while we were in Russia.  The Mariinsky theater is a historic landmark for ballet and opera so we figured St. Petersburg was the place to do it.

Mariinsky Theater Main Stage

A full house for La Bayadére

After purchasing our tickets, we did a little research on La Bayadére so we would have a sense of the show.  As it turns out, the original version of this world famous ballet premiered in St. Petersburg in 1877.  Then the current version staged by Vakhtang Chabukiani and Vladimir Ponomarev premiered again in Petersburg at the Mariinsky Theater (called the Kirov Theater at the time) in 1941.  In the years and decades following its opening, La Bayadére has made an huge impact on ballet around the world and is hailed as one of choreographer Marius Petipa's supreme masterpieces.  The famous scene, The Kingdom of the Shades, is one of the most celebrated pieces in all classical ballet and is often performed as an independent showpiece in which 32 ballerinas in white tutus and veils slowly weave their way onto the stage.  It is a striking scene with orchestral magnificence to perfectly complement the aesthetic beauty of the dancers.

Bows following The Kingdom of Shades

We were also incredibly lucky to catch Viktoria Tereshkina, one of the most famous and celebrated prima ballerinas and named "The People's Artist of Russia".  I feel like I am running out of adjectives to describe how absolutely breathtaking this performance was.  Her counterpart, Kimin Kim, was equally astounding and I have never seen anyone leap with such incredible grace.  

Viktoria Tereshkin and Kimin Kim

We were so taken by our first experience of a real professional ballet, we decided to go again.  The plot of La Bayadére is on the exotic side, set in India and with a giant cast.  Anna Karenina, based on Leo Tolstoy's novel, was performed in the New Theater at the Mariinsky two days later, also starring Viktoria Tereshkin.  We waisted no time in booking seats to our second and more traditional ballet set to the music of Tchaikovsky.  

The New Theater and stage to Anna Karenina

Mariinsky New Theater

I was recently in a restroom where a poster hanging on the wall proclaimed, "Travel is the only thing you pay for that makes you richer."  I feel so fortunate to have been able to join Fritz on his research-related travels.  His book on the Cold War and global finance has taken us to places that probably would not have even been on my radar.  These adventures have led to culture experiences like this one in St. Petersburg.  I never knew how incredible ballet could be, and the more I see of the world the more I add to my own global and cultural understanding.  For me, that knowledge is more than valuable, it is priceless.