Here it is the post I was yearning to write: St Petersburg! I think it is one of the most important cities for all the classical dance amateurs, and it deserves a visit also for all the beauty amateurs. Classical ballet wasn’t conceived here (but does it really matter?). But it is true is that this city changed the way we understand ballet now.
I cannot write such as detailed post as the one I wrote about Paris, because I spent 15 days in St.Petersburg and I couldn´t understand the city as well as in Paris since I spent there 1 year. Futhermore, I do speak French but my Russian level is very basic. But apart from that, there’s something really contagious in the city, and it is that its people and not only the natives, are absolutely in love with St. Petersburg.
I organised this trip at the end of May,beginning of June, when I left Paris. But I remember that Christmas in Madrid, reading “Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky” by Solomon Volkov ( more information here), while waiting for my train to go to ballet class. In the book, which I do recommend, there´s a first chapter about the childhood of these two characters in St. Petersburg that is really haunting. And, why not mentioning, since this is a personal blog, at the time I was infatuated with a guy from there, with a “dancer-like” surname and theatrical affinities. Actually, during this trip, on my first afternoon walking there I happened to bump into this guy in the middle of Mikhailovsky Theatre square… Casualties, just like the first picture you can find here, which was taken in the middle of a shooting of a period movie that I ran into on the Trinity Bridge (Troitsky Most)
But let’s s focus on why I visited the city, and go into this in more depth:
Watching ballet
Many people come to the city with the tickets already booked through travel Agencies (but they usually go to touristic theaters). But there is also another option if you don’t trust buying via Internet (where you can get the tickets in http://www.bileter.ru/ or in website apparently more dedicated to Ballets and Operas), you can also buy the tickets already in the city. It is very easy to find many stalls or offices selling tickets for all performances in the city, under the title of: театральные кассы. Such kiosks are also easy to find in Moscow.
These stalls are easy to find (you can even see them in the street or in the subway), but probably are difficult to use if you do not speak Russian. So, what I do recommend is to go to the box office of the Theatre (because the театральные кассы charges commission), or even you can go to the big offices (there is one right in front of the subway station and shopping centre Gostinyy Dvor, number 42 of Nevsky Prospekt).
And of course, in reference to theatres, there is a name with capital letters for every balletomane:
¡The Mariinsky Theater!
The visit of Teatralnaya square is a must for every ballet fan, and, of course, if you arrive during theater season (available in their web), you should see the company perform.Then, just crossing to the sidewalk, you can find the Music Conservatory of Rimsky-Korsakov (website here, with a pretty complete english version). The Institution has its tradition, but we should remind that it is in music, since for Ballet we have The Vaganova Academy. Despite of everything, they do offer postgraduates programs in Pedagogy, Choreography and History of the Choreographic Art.
There are some ballets given at the Conservatory Theatre, like I already knew and I could see from all the buses that were in the square (full of tourists). When I was staring at the Mariinsky an old man came to me and tried to re-sell me a ticket for Swan Lake for that moment. He tempted me the first time, and I tried not to have him discover my basic level of Russian, but finally I saw that it would be full of tourists so I desisted. Maybe it was because of the Black Swan success, at that time there were many Swan Lakes for the tourists. We should take into account, that even if we are in Russia, not all that is Russian is caviar. Despite of everything, I have heard there were good performances over there, so I guess I could recommend them if the other theaters are closed.
But apart from the Mariinsky, there are two big theatres that are a must too:
– Mikhailovsky Theater (web)
Mikhailovsky Theatre is a growing company since 2007 when Farukh Ruzimatov was running it. Now, the one who runs the company is Nacho Duato. With all alarms over, it is still a young company able to offer contemporary, as well as classical dance. On the other hand, such is the type of companies that Duato is used to working with, of course, outside of Spain.
Although the exterior of the building attracts little attention, the interior is elegant and pleasant (but a tad too white in my opinion. The boxes of the theatre seem so square). I think there such be a pretty good view from all seats. My seat (the one I took the first pic from) for a performance of Spartacus was in the second line in the dress circle, but the view was really good though.
Furthermore, the theatre has a little surprise, and it is that if you take the stairs on the left side of the foyer, you get inside a room where you can find a little museum about the activity of the theatre, which it’s perfect to spends the intermissions of the ballet.
-The Alexandrinsky Theater(web)This theatre is located right on the left side of Nevsky Prospekt (the principal avenue of the city). This theatre is one of the oldest in Russia, it important pass by, even if you don’t come to see a ballet, you should have the Ovtrovsky square as a landmark, since on its left side you have the State Museum of Music and the Russian Theatre. Rossi street is on the right side of the theatre, it was built in honour of the Italian Carlo Rossi, but known by all the ballet dancers as “The Theatre street” ( which was actually the name of a documentary that was narrated by Grace Kelly in 1977“Children of Theater street´´)And at the end of the street, there´s the door of the Vaganova Academy. Which when I arrived had a ladder that was falling to bits and the only thing to remind what was going on inside was a small placard.– And, but i´m afraid, only focused on catching tourists without much knowledge about ballet, there are ballets given in the theater of the Hermitage Museum and in other palaces. From this website you can check the schedule and buy tickets http://www.hermitageballet.com/, but for $ 125 I recommend to buy a good ticket for the Mariinsky, because in this theatre we’ll see dancers from the corps de ballet of the big theatres just trying to earn a little more money. In http://rus-ballet.com/ they announce some dancers that appear with them, but I do not guarantee its accuracy.-Then, also you have to take into account three companies that may be a solution for when Mariinsky or Mikhailovsky fail:–Boris Eifman´s Ballet (web) appears regularly in the city under the name of “State Academic Theatre of Boris Eifman Ballet” and is a way of seeing something new, yet very classical (plots from very literary stories) with a very modern stage treatment andchoreography.-Even though its not a traditional company, the Konstantin Tachkin Ballet of Saint Petersburg (web), has a good level. Specially when company diva and Tachkin´s wife Irina Kolesnikova performs. Tachkin did founded the company as a present to her.,On youtube you can see videos her and various dvds of Swan Lake, Beauty and Giselle that they have commercialised.–The third company that I’ve already talked about is the company of Leonid Yacobson (web oficial), a tiny group which we must try to see the titles of his own repertoire.-To peer into the past. Museums
Obviously, any art lover has to go through Hermitage and the Museum of Russian Art , but there are a couple of interesting adresses:–Museum of Russian Political History / Old house of Mathilde Kchessinskaya
-Address: 2-4, Kuibisheva street
-Schedule:
-Prices:-Adults: 200 rubles
-Students: 100 rubles
-Photography permit: 100 rubles
A curiosity more than a strong recommendation. Mathilde Kchessinskaya is, in my opinion, is one of the most fascinating figures of the pre-revolutionary Petrograd. Star of the Mariinsky and star of the gossip of the time. Corynne Hall’s book, “Imperial Dancer” (available on amazon) is very entertaining, even when you forget that we are talking about the Russian interpreter in La Esmeralda, Pharaoh’s Daughter or just the first Russian who was able to do 32 fouettés.
The museum is dedicated to its political component (and basically with no signs in other languages), but it has a room which keeps memories from Kchessinskaya.
-State Museum of Music and Theatre
This museum, or rather all of them (because they charge different fares) is located around the main building in the square of the Museum Ovstrovsky, the Sherementiev Palace and museums in the apartment of Rimsky-Korsakov, Chaliapin and Samoilov.The main building (whose visit I will probably write another post about adventures in the city because of the amount of photos I took, has many things dedicated to ballet):-Address: 6, Pl.Ostrovskogo-Hours: Sunday to Saturday: 11am-6pm, Sunday: 1pm-7pm. Closed Tuesday and last Friday of each month
-Prices:-Adults: 200 rubles
-Students: 50 rubles
-Photography Permit: 100 rubles
-Sheremetev Palace. -The Palace of Sheremetev. Basically dedicated to music, but in relation to ballet one can see the piano where Glazunov composed Raymonda and his office brought from Paris.-Address: Naberezhnaya Fontanki, 34,-Hours: Sunday to Saturday: 12am-6pm. Closed: Monday, Tuesday and last Friday of the month -Prices:-Adults: 220 rubles
-Students: 90 rubles
-To dress ballet
I did not buy, but Grishko store, in the city, is next to the channel, on number 30 of Gorokhovaya street. The guys I was walking with (no fans of ballet at all) enjoyed seeing the window which was decorated with photographs of boxers posing in tutus.-Books and ballet dvds
When I posted that I was going on vacation to Russia, some commented on where to buy such official theater recordings , whose parts have made their way through the internet, but I’m sorry, I have no answer.
The Mariinsky had a small shop inside, but to my knowledge, you cannot get in if the theater is closed. The last time I went there, was 4 years ago, I bought a vhs video, so you can imagine that things are not so updated.
And in mayor stores, (Virgin Store type ) the repertoire of dvds was also very outdated, sticking almost exclusively to the series “Stars of Russian Ballet.” Nothing foreigner (expected) and not later than the 90´s.
Perhaps due to language difficulties, I did not try to to look too much if there was an specialized bookstore. So, looking for something big where one can walk along the shelves without feeling watched, I recommend the beautiful House of Books
(Dom Knigi) in front of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan in the Nevsky Prospekt.
And that’s all, of course, collaborations and recommendations are allowed.
UPDATE: I´m flying back to both Saint Petersburg and Moscow this summer, so this guide might be re-worked.
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