One of Russia’s leading classical dance companies, Ural Ballet traces its history back to 1914, when the first ballet performance – The Magic Flute – was given on the stage of the New City Theatre of Ekaterinburg, now Ural Opera. In 1931, the word “ballet”
was added to the theatre’s name. The latest chapter of the company’s history began in 2011, when it was taken over by Slava Samodurov.
The strategy behind Ural Ballet’s repertoire is to preserve and interpret the ballets of the nineteenth century, to showcase twentieth-century classics, and to create original works. Ural Ballet was the first company in Russia to perform ballets by Hans van Manen, Paul Lightfoot and Sol León, as well as George Balanchine’s Walpurgisnacht Ballet. It was here that Pavel Gershenzon and Sergey Vikharev resumed their work on the revival of productions of the Imperial Ballet (a project undertaken in 1999 with Sleeping Beauty at the Mariinsky Theatre), proposing a new way to treat historic choreography in the ballets La Fille Mal Gardée and Paquita.Every season, the company presents world premieres – Snow Queen, The Order of the King, and Brahms Party among them. Ural Ballet has commissioned original scores from composers Artyom Vasiliev, Yuriy Krasavin, and Anatoliy Korolyov.
Recognition for the company includes eight awards from the Golden Mask National Theatre Prize, invitations to the international festivals Dance Open and Diaghilev P.S. in St. Petersburg, Birgitta in Tallinn, and M.ART in Tel-Aviv, and a live-streamed performance as part of World Ballet Day 2018. Slava Samodurov’s ballet Romeo and Juliette was broadcast live on the Mezzo TV channel.
