07 Mar 2017

Following a sold out show back in April last year, the Royal Moscow Ballet will be back in Gaborone at the Gaborone International Convention Centre (GICC) on March 18.
Speaking at a press brief, general manager of Op Advertising, Francis Gleeson said last year they sold all the 700 tickets and gave out 100 complimentary tickets, meaning the show was sold out.
“This year we are looking to sell 900 tickets and they are already on sale at the Grand Palm reception area,” he said.
He indicated that the show is in association with Edouard Miasnikov Agency, sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank and The Grand Palm Hotel with media sponsors being Duma Fm and Botswana Guardian.
Gleeson noted that the programme of the show would pay tribute to great Russian composers, Sergei Rachmaninov, Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Aleksander Borodin.
“The company is scheduled to arrive in Botswana as part of a six-city tour covering Johannesburg, Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Durban, East London, Port Elizabeth as well as Gaborone,” he said.
Gleeson further said highlights of the upcoming show include Paganini (a one act ballet) scored by Sergei Rachmaninov, Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini; which are scenes from ballets by Pyotr Tchaikovsky; Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker as well as Aleksander Borodin’s, The Polovtsian dance from the opera The Prince Igor.
He went on to say that the Royal Moscow Ballet had toured successfully around the globe presenting more than a thousand performances.
“The company, which consists of graduates of the best Russian choreography, ballet and dance schools, premiered as the Royal Moscow Ballet on August 2002.
The founders are Anatoly Emelianov and Anna Aleksidze,” he said.
Gleeson further said this year the Royal Moscow Ballet would be celebrating 15 years of existence and the company has created more than 20 modern and 15 classical ballets.
“As part of the 2016 tour, the Royal Moscow Ballet made contact with local ballet schools in order to do a show in collaboration with them for this year’s performance as part of the scenes of the Nutcracker ballet,” he said.
He pointed out that this year’s collaboration would be with Risa Ballet, a school that has operated in Botswana for 35 years and the Northside School Ballet class.
“It is through cultural events like the ballet that people are exposed to the arts and have an appreciation for diverse cultures.
It is through events like this that our local performers and artists can observe an international performing group and learn how to take their acts across borders,” he concluded. ENDS