The St. Petersburg Ballet at the Helix
16 February 2004

The St Petersburg Ballet was welcomed back to the Helix early in February with two of the world's most famous ballets, Swan Lake and The Nutcracker: both ballets played to packed houses in the beautiful Mahony Hall at the Helix.

Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake premiered in Moscow at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1877 and it is the most performed ballet in the world. This production, a classical production of the ballet, by the St. Petersburg Ballet was greeted with rapturous applause from the audience at The Helix. It was choreographed after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov; the costumes were by Galina Solovieva and the sets by Semyen Pastukh.

The story is a story of love and enchantment. Reminiscent of our own Irish legend of the children of Lir, it is the story of a beautiful young woman trapped in the body of a swan, Odette, and her love for her prince, Prince Siegfried. Odette and her companions are victims of the sorcerer Von Rothbart and their love for each other is threatened by his power. In the end, it is the force of the Prince's love for Odette that finally breaks the spell and unites Odette and the Prince in their love.

The second ballet performed at The Helix was Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, with the same choreography and costume and set design ensemble. This ballet originally came from the famous Maryinsky Theatre in Russia which later became the Kirov State Theatre and which returned subsequently in 1991 to its original name.

In the ballet the Councillor Stahlbaum and his wife are giving a Christmas Party for their children. A mysterious guest arrives and introduces himself as the Kind Magician of the Land of Sweets and it's handsome Prince. This kind magician turns out to be an Uncle of the children in disguise and from his bag of toys and tricks the children take the Nutcracker doll.

The children's Uncle tells them the story of the doll, telling them that at the stroke of midnight they will be able to help the doll kill the sorcerer Mouse King who has cast a spell on the Prince of the Land of Sweets turning him into the Nutcracker doll. When the Mouse King is dead, the Prince will be released from the spell and will be able to return to the Land of Sweets from where he will reward the good children who have helped him.

The St. Petersbury Ballet Theatre Company played to full houses at the Helix and each of the performances was greeted with great enthusiasm. The company was formed in 1994 and is directed by Konstatin Tatchkin. It is based in its own theatre on Liteiny Street in St Petersburg and it has since 1994 built an extensive repertoire of full-length classical ballets with which it has toured the world, Europe, America and Australia. In June of this year the company will make it's first visit to Japan.

For details of upcoming performances at The Helix log on to the website at www.thehelix.ie

Christina Quinlan