Kept on their toes: St Petersb

Lovers of ‘Swan Lake’ will have to wait many more months to see it on South African stages. Image: Supplied

Kept on their toes: St Petersburg Ballet postpones ‘Swan Lake’ to 2022

Artscape and the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre have announced that the South African season of ‘Swan Lake’ has been rescheduled to 2022.

Kept on their toes: St Petersb

Lovers of ‘Swan Lake’ will have to wait many more months to see it on South African stages. Image: Supplied

South African ballet lovers who were eager to see the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre production of Swan Lake will now have to wait even longer, as the dancers are being kept on their toes by the coronavirus pandemic. 

When COVID-19 began in March 2020, Artscape was only weeks away from hosting the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre. Since then, it had been an extraordinary challenge for the live performance community in South Africa and all over the world, Artscape Theatre Centre CEO  Dr Marlene le Roux said. 

However, Artscape said it was committed to once again hosting large international shows as soon as it was practical to do so. 

‘Swan Lake’ at Artscape Opera House in July 2022

With support of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, St Petersburg Ballet Theatre and Artscape’s theatre management team, Le Roux said she was pleased that a rescheduled season of the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre’s Swan Lake could be secured for the Artscape Opera House from 7 to 17 July 2022.

In Johannesburg, where the Swan Lake performances will be accompanied by the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra, the season has been rescheduled at the Teatro Montecasino from 20 to 31 July 2022.

St Petersburg ballet company continues rehearsing

St Petersburg Ballet Theatre founding director Konstantin Tachkin said he and the dancers were humbled by the generosity and understanding of South African audiences who had retained their tickets or donated them to charity. 

Under the artistic leadership of prima ballerina Irina Kolesnikova, the company has continued to take classes and rehearse for their return to live performances.

Founded in 1994, the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre is renowned for its Vaganova-trained dancers and its stunning, full-length productions. They perform classical masterpieces such as Giselle, Don Quixote, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake

In recent years, they have performed in cities like New York, London, Paris, Stockholm, Oslo, Hong Kong, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Melbourne, Auckland, Cape Town and Johannesburg.

‘Swan Lake’ still going head

The St Petersburg Ballet Theatre has continued rehearsing for ‘Swan Lake.’ Image: Supplied

Producer Simon Bryce said the season still going ahead, albeit later than planned, provided a huge morale boost for the dancers, South African musicians and support workers involved. 

“Despite the challenges of the past year, our commitment to bring the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre back to South Africa has never wavered. We are optimistic for the future, and determined to play our part in the post-pandemic economic and artistic recovery,” Artscape said.

How to book for ‘Swan Lake’

Bookings for Swan Lake can be made through Computicket, Shoprite and Checkers. Tickets range from R250 to R690, with reduced prices for mid-week and Sunday evening performances. 

There are special prices for students and pensioners for Wednesday and Sunday evening performances, available only through Computicket outlets with student card and pensioner ID shown.

Computicket has communicated the new dates to existing ticket holders via email and SMS, and advised that tickets already held would automatically be transferred to the new dates and performance times. 

Existing ticket holders can accept the new performance date, change their tickets to another date, or donate, gift or return their tickets. This can be done by emailing Computicket at info@computicket.com before 31 March.

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