On May 31, artists from the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will present two contemporary one-act ballets on the stage of the Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk Opera and BalletTheatre.

The ballets are Phaedra by Philip Glass and The Firebird by Igor Stravinsky. On Saturday, May 31, at 1:00 PM, a special open dress rehearsal of The Firebird will be held for the Pushkin Card holders, followed by a Q&A session with People’s Artist of Russia Eldar Aliev — choreographer, librettist, lighting designer of the Firebird, and artistic director of the Primorsky Stage ballet company. At 6:00 PM, the full night performance of both ballets will begin, open to all audiences.

Phaedra is choreographed by Danish dancer and choreographer Flemming Flindt — a principal dancer of the Paris Opera House and a renowned creator of shows set to contemporary music, often labelled by music critics as the “eccentric ones”. The choreographer used to work all over the world including the U.S.: the world premiere of Phaedra took place in 1987 at the Dallas Theatre. The production premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre’s Primorsky Stage in 2021. Based on Euripides’ tragedy Hippolytus, the ballet tells a poignant story of passions so powerful that not even the gods can resist them.

The Firebird first premiered in 1910 at the Paris Opera as part of Sergei Diaghilev’s famous Russian Seasons, with choreography by legendary Russian dancer and choreographer Michel Fokine. The Vladivostok premiere took place in 2015. Drawing from various Russian folktales, the libretto of The Firebird blends traditional themes and characters.  In Eldar Aliev’s version, the Firebird resembles a magical operatic heroine akin to the Swan Princess from The Tale of Tsar Saltan by Rimsky-Korsakov. She is an enchanted maiden who helps Ivan Tsarevich defeat the evil sorcerer Kashchei and his monstrous minions. With Kashchei’s demise, the Firebird transforms into a beautiful princess who becomes Ivan’s bride.

The Krasnoyarsk tour of the Primorsky Stage is part of the federal programme Big Tours supported by the Russian Ministry of Culture and Rosconcert. Tickets are available at the theatre box office (phone +7 391 227-86-97, open daily from 10:00 to 20:00), on the theatre’s website Krasopera.ru, and via regional ticketing platforms.