Mikhailovsky Ballet's 'The Flames of Paris' Premieres in CA

Joining the illustrious list of renowned ballet companies presented by Segerstrom Center for the Arts, the Mikhailovsky Ballet from St. Petersburg, Russia will make its West Coast debut opening the Center's 2014 - 2015 International Dance Series performing "The Flames of Paris," a work rarely seen in a full production.

The Mikhailovsky will dance four performances November 28 - 30, 2014 in Segerstrom Hall. Prior to this, the company will make its American debut at The Davd H. Koch Theater at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts from November 14 - 16, 2014.

When this new production premiered in St. Petersburg, London's Financial Times said, "The drums of revolution beat out once more in St. Petersburg with Mikhail Messerer's pitch-perfect restoration of Vasily Vainonen's 1932 'The Flames of Paris' for the Mikhailovsky Ballet."

Free Preview Talks will be given one hour prior to each performance by Mikhail Messerer, choreographer-in-chief of the Mikhailovsky Ballet, interviewed by producer and artist representative Sergei Danilian. Messerer is from a legendary family of dance artists: Asaf Messerer was choreographer with the Bolshoi Ballet; Bois Messerer, his uncle, is a famous visual artist and scenographer (The Bright Stream set & costumes seen at the Center in its 2005 West Coast premiere); his mother, Sulamif Messerer, was a respected teacher with The Royal Ballet for many years; cousin Azary Plisetsky was Bejart Ballet teacher, and another cousin Maya Plisetskaya, is a Russian ballet dancer, choreographer, ballet director, and actress and is considered one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century.

Tickets for the Mikhailovsky Ballet are available now by subscribing to the 2014 - 2015 International Dance Series. Single tickets start at $29 and will go on sale Sunday, October 12 at 10 a.m. PST. They will be available online at SCFTA.org, at the Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa or by calling (714) 556-2787. For inquiries about group ticket savings for 10 or more, call the Group Services office at (714) 755-0236. The TTY number is (714) 556-2746.

The Center's International Dance Series is made possible by: Audrey Steele Burnand Endowed Fund for International Dance and The Segerstrom Foundation Endowment for Great Performances with special underwriting support from Mary and Richard Cramer. Classical KUSC and COAST magazine are Media Partner of the International Dance Series. Segerstrom Center for the Arts applauds Kia, the Official Automotive Partner of the Center. United Airlines is the Official Airline of the Center.

Laura Cappelle of DanceTabs writes of the Mikhailovsky's three-act production, "... the ballet is paced to perfection, and leaves us wanting more every time the curtain comes down." For modern day audiences, "The Flames of Paris" is a work perhaps more known by reputation than experience, though excerpts are often performed in repertory programs to showcase dancers' most virtuosic talents. It is rarely performed in its entirety and demands spectacular theatricality and the greatest technique and ability from its dancers.

The subject is the French Revolution, and included in the action is the storming of the Tuileries by the Marseillais and their victorious march on Paris. Although its setting is 18th century France, it is a perfect illustration of Leningrad Ballet in the 1920s and 1930s, during which time there was a determined effort to find subjects in world history which reflected the more immediate situation in Russia, and to show that the October Revolution was part of more universal movements and historical events.

The Mikhailovsky Ballet is a thriving company that combines classical traditions with a modern look and does not shy away from creative experiments. It was established in 1833 by decree of Tsar Nicholas I. Before the 1917 Revolution, the Mikhailovsky did not have its own resident company. Performances were given either by a French company, hired by the Russian Imperial Theatres, or at the end of the century by the Mariinsky Theatre and Alexandrinsky Theatre companies.

In 1917, it closed, reopening the following year as an opera theater. Shortly afterwards the Mikhailovsky started changing its names, successively as the Ex-Mikhailovsky Theatre, the State Academic Comic Opera Theatre, Maly Operny (Maly Opera Theatre), Leningrad State Academic Maly Opera Theatre (MALEGOT), the Modest Mussorgsky Theatre and, subsequently returning to its original name, the Mikhailovsky Theatre.

For more information visit scfta.org