Mariinsky Ballet Brings Back Le Corsaire To Washington Over 10 Years After 1st Performance

Mariinsky Ballet Brings Back Le Corsaire to Washington Over 10 Years After 1st Performance

Russia's celebrated Mariinsky Ballet has returned to the US capital for the 17th tour with the captivating ballet Le Corsaire, more than a decade after the theater last performed this masterpiece in the city

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th April, 2019) Russia's celebrated Mariinsky Ballet has returned to the US capital for the 17th tour with the captivating ballet Le Corsaire, more than a decade after the theater last performed this masterpiece in the city.

The performance, shown at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, was received extraordinary warmly on the opening night on Tuesday with a long standing ovation.

The program of Mariinsky's annual tour in Washington, which will run through Sunday, includes seven performances of the ballet in total.

Choreographed by Pyotr Gusev after Marius Petipa, the ballet tells the story of a pirate, or corsair, who falls in love with a beautiful Greek girl that he will have to rescue from an ill-fated captivity in the Turkish harem.

Russian ballet dancers noted a special connection with the American audience, which seems to understand very keenly different nuances of the performance, and especially the humor.

"The American audience is very light-hearted and supportive, they are happy to applaud, to cheer, somebody was even screaming in the end today!" Timur Askerov, a lead dancer, told Sputnik after the premiere.

Alexei Timofeyev, who also performed on Tuesday, continued, "Today's premiere was received exceptionally well, we were very pleased."

"We really feel that the audience loves us here!" dancer Kimin Kim added.

The Russian ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, was also present at the premiere. He underlined that US-Russian cultural ties remain strong and develop regardless of the political situation.

"They help preserve friendly relations between our nations even in the most difficult times. The beauty of art makes us better and from generation to generation serves as a pillar of progress for our civilization," Antonov said at a reception dedicated to the premiere.

The St. Petersburg ballet company's deputy director Yuri Fateev said that the very rich and deep Russian culture serves as a sort of messenger of the country into the rest of the word, the one that does not need a language.

"We plan to continue working with the Kennedy Center for a very long time and present the Russian culture and the Russian art here in the United States," Fateev added.

The Mariinsky Ballet will come back to the Kennedy Center in October with its US premiere of a new production of Paquita, a story of a Spanish young woman stolen as a child by gypsies.