Born of the turbulent history that led to Perm, on the edge of the Urals, becoming the town which harboured the famous Kirov during the Second World War, the Ballet of the Tchaikovsky National Opera has been able to build on this heritage to become one of the most important repositories of the spirit of the great Russian Ballets.
To have these fifty-five dancers come to France as part of the Franco-Russian Year is a significant first. We have chosen to present the masterpiece of the classical repertoire in its purest form, a symbol of harmony and perfection, “Swan Lake”. The rigour, demands and precision that its performance requires always attract admiring audiences.
The male dancers of the Perm Ballet, breaking with all subtleties of the dance and with the intensity of the book, excel in this masterly Lake, which bears the signature of the unforgettable star Natalia Makarova. An exceptional opportunity to discover the sensitivity of this interpretation and the technical distinctiveness of the classical Russian school at its very best.

Source: Maison de la Danse programme

Natalia Makarova is a dancer and Russian ballet mistress born in 1940. After training at the Leningrad Choreographic Institute, she joined the Kirov (the informal name for the Mariinsky Theatre and its ballet), where she performed from 1959 to 1970. After this, she joined the Royal Ballet in London and began her international career. When political circumstances allowed, she performed with the Kirov again in 1988 and 1989. As ballet master, she has staged “Paquita”, “Bayadère and “Swan Lake”. After her remarkable interpretations of pieces like “Giselle”, she diversified her roles by dancing the great modern works. Jerome Robbins created “Other Dances” for her in 1976 and Maurice Béjart “Méphisto Valse” in 1979. 

Source: Dictionnaire de la Danse, Philippe Le Moal, Larousse, 1999

More information: larousse.fr