VII International Festival of Opera and Ballet «Khersonesos» — when and where?

From August 1 to August 4, 2023, a series of performances of the classical ballet Swan Lake in the author’s version by Alexei Miroshnichenko will take place on the territory of the Tauric Chersonese Museum-Reserve in Crimea. Artists of the ballet troupe and orchestra of the Perm Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. P. I. Tchaikovsky will present a production as part of the program VII International Festival of Opera and Ballet «Khersonesos».

The Khersones International Opera and Ballet Festival is a landmark event in Russian culture and occupies a prominent place among Russian festivals of classical art. Every year leading theaters and performers of Russia become its participants. The festival invariably attracts close attention of guests and residents of the region.

Festival events attract guests with their unique content and an extraordinary combination of place and action: the ancient appearance of the ancient city of Tauric Chersonesos, included in the list of cultural heritage sites, and great works performed in the open air by Russian and world opera and ballet stars.

Ballet art is our national treasure, part of the cultural code, a language of communication understandable to everyone. Therefore, it unites peoples and promotes intercultural dialogue.

This year, on the open stage of Tauric Chersonese, under the magnificent southern sky, among the aromas of the steppes and the sea breeze, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s ballet «Swan Lake» will be shown.

The ballet was written in 1876, in this stage version it was staged in Perm in 2015. Libretto by Alexey Miroshnichenko based on the script by Vladimir Begichev. Choreography by Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov, Alexander Gorsky, Konstantin Sergeev, Alexei Miroshnichenko. Edited by Alexei Miroshnichenko.

It is generally accepted that the libretto of Swan Lake, which tells about Princess Odette, who was turned into a swan by the evil wizard Rothbart, is partly based on Russian folklore, partly on the story of Johann Karl August Museus, the author of the collection German Folk Tales. One way or another, but the plot-forming motif of the ballet, which has become the emblem of the Russian academic school of dance, has clear signs of a German romantic legend: only the love of a knight can dispel evil spells.

The program of performances of the troupe of the Perm Opera and Ballet Theater can be found on the official website: https://inter-fest.ru.

Organizers VII The International Opera and Ballet Festival «Chersonesos» is being performed by ANO «Russian Seasons» and LLC «Vision Media Center» in cooperation with the State Museum-Reserve «Tauric Chersonesos». The event is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Government of the city of Sevastopol.

source: Development Department of the State Museum-Reserve Tauric Chersonesus