It’s a new month and a new cultural events calendar is on the horizon. We start our suggestions for the month with an event that promises to be the greatest happening of the summer. That is, if you enjoy ballet and appreciate a ballet dancer at the top of his game.
The dancer in question is Ivan Vasiliev, who is known as ‘the new Nureyev.’ He is one of the world’s leading dancers and is coming to Cyprus for one night only.
This is a real treat for anyone who loves to see a master dance out his craft.
Vasiliev, from Russia, graduated from the Bielorussian Ballet School in 2006. In his early career he won many prizes, including first prize at the Moscow International Ballet Competition in 2006 and the Virtuosity Prize of International Dance Open in Saint Petersburg in 2010. In 2015, by public poll, he was awarded Discovery of the Year QG Prize for his first ballet evening as choreographer.
He joined the Bolshoi Ballet at the end of 2006 as first soloist. By the end of 2010 he had already performed the leading roles in Le Corsaire, Flames of Paris, Don Quixote, Giselle, La Fille Mal-Gardée, Spartacus, Petrouchka, The Nutcracker, La Esmeralda, La Bayadére and been promoted to the rank of principal of Bolshoi Ballet. In 2011, together with his then fiancée Natalia Osipova, Vasiliev became a principal dancer of the Mikhailovsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg. He also became a regular guest principal in the American Ballet Theatre, La Scala di Milano and Bolshoi. In 2015 he decided to also dedicate himself to choreography. He staged an evening in the spring of 2015 with short pieces, an evening with three one-act ballets in the spring with 2016, and a full-length Christmas ballet the following winter. In May 2016, one more one-act ballet was presented in the scope of Project for Young Choreographers in Bolshoi.
For ballet fans the world over and professionals in the field, every appearance he makes is considered a major event. His schedule is always overflowing and his appearances with the Bolshoi ballet – with tickets rising up to €1,000 – are always sold out within just a few hours.
For his performance in Limassol on Friday, the ballet dancer will be accompanied by 12 Bolshoi soloists, including Maria Vinogradova, Anna Nikulina and Erick Swolkin. Together the dancers will perform the ballet Love is Everywhere to Igor Stravinsky’s music choreographed by Vasiliev himself. The night will also include set pieces from Scheherazade, Le Corsaire, Don Quixote along with other stunning pieces from other ballets, both from the classical repertoire and from some contemporary works that have already made waves in the greatest ballet companies worldwide. The showstopper of the evening will be the choreographed piece by Vasiliev, set to the legendary song I Want to Break Free by Queen.
The event is organised by the Theotokos Foundation and is the first of a series of events which will conclude in 2019 for the celebration of 50 years since the establishment of the foundation, and the performance is under the auspices of Andri Anastasiades.
Tickets can be purchased online at Tickethour.com.cy and from the Limassol Municipal Gardens Theatre only during afternoon hours.
Ivan Vasiliev
Live performance by the dancer. July 6. Municipal Gardens Theatre, Limassol. 9pm. € 20-50. Tel: 25-343341
