04 January 2019 (Fri), 19:00 Hermitage Theatre of Classical Russian Ballet - Classical Ballet Pyotr Tchaikovsky "A Christmas Carol" ballet in two acts after the novella by Charles Dickens. Choreography Ivan Vasiliev
Premiere of this production: 31 December 2016, Mikhailovsky theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia
Ballet in two acts after the novella by Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost-Story of Christmas
set to music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky
CREDITS
Choreography: Ivan Vasiliev
Stage and Costume Design: Alexandra Leonidova
Principal Repetiteur: Elvira Khabibullina
Repetiteur: Mikhail Sivakov
Ivan Vasiliev, inspired by the success of his first choreographic works, is to stage a full scale ballet. A Christmas Carol, based on Charles Dickens’ novella of the same name, will premiere at the Hermitage Theatre on 31 December. “Through the story of one man, we reveal the meaning of the simple values in life — love, friendship, and helping one another,” explains Ivan Vasiliev. “My protagonist, Scrooge, has forgotten what these things mean: he’s erased them from his life, and turned into a money-counting machine. And he’s not the only one — there are plenty as foolish as him.”
The choreographer knows and loves the story of the miserly Mr. Scrooge, who is visited on Christmas Eve by three ghosts. “This story has been part of my life since childhood,” he says. “I have known it from start to finish since I was small. I associate this story very strongly with Christmas and New Year.”
Ivan chose the music for the production himself. And his composer of choice was Tchaikovsky: pieces from The Children’s Album and The Seasons, and fragments from the symphonies. “It’s like the way that ideas come about,” says Ivan Vasiliev. “The idea is there, seemingly, but you need to find the right words to express it; and then the words come, and it’s as if they’ve appeared out of nowhere. The same with this ballet: I found the kind of music which reflects perfectly everything I would like to convey.”
Ivan Vasiliev relies on two allies in his work — a sense of humour and a close-knit team ready to support his every endeavour. The ballet has a large cast: Irina Perren, Ivan Zaytsev, Marat Shemiunov, Veronika Ignatyeva, Valeria Zapasnikova, Anna Kuligina, and Alexey Kuznetsov, who have all worked with Ivan on his first ballets, will appear in A Christmas Carol, together with many others whom Vasiliev has inspired with this new concept. Ivan Vasiliev has “confirmed himself” in the main role of Scrooge.