Main Stage

Libretto by Natalya Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasilyov

Choreography by Natalya Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasilyov

The Rite of Spring

In 1956 Igor Moiseev secretly showed the impresario Sola Yurok The Rite of Spring ballet by young choreographers Kasatkina and Vasilyov in an empty auditorium. Yurok immediately decided to open the very first tour of the Bolshoi Theater to the USA with this performance and invited Stravinsky himself to take the conductor's stand.

Choreographers Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasilyov created a special choreographic, plastic language to express the powerful and vivid images of Stravinsky's music, an innovative and inventive language. The actors of the troupe are fluent in this language.

This production by the famous Russian balletmasters Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasilyov meant an incredible breakthrough for the national ballet theatre. It opens an absolutely new age — in the repertoire, choreography, style…First staged in the Bolshoi, this production till now continues to capture the audience by its expression and impressive dance pattern.

Kasatkina and Vasilyov were the first balletmasters since 1917 dare to present the ballet by Igor Stravinsky. Immigrant Stravinsky was considered almost the forbidden composer. His innovative music seems to be very difficult to understand. Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasilyov understood it deeply and adequately.

"We were pretty much blamed for the fact that we brought the plot to this music and made the story, - Natalia Kasatkina says. - But we heard the story in this music. If the story is not natural, the music would be resisted. And dramatic finale, when a man rises against idol, was also heard in this great music. This is a hope…"

This choreographic version of the ballet got approval by the composer.

The Miraculous Mandarin
can be called one of the most mysterious ballets of the 20th century. A mystical thriller is the most accurate definition of its genre. High-ranking nobles were called mandarins in China, but the main character is not so simple. Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasilev deliberately abandoned the exact designation of his image, leaving room for imagination.

This phantasmagoria can be understood in different ways: as a mirage that appears in the darkness of the night, as the embodiment of subconscious fears, or as a real mandarin, inexplicably caught in the darkness of an industrial city. One thing is clear: the immortal mandarin was captured by a passion for an ordinary girl.

Twilight obscurity

It usually occurs suddenly, does not last long and ends suddenly.
Accompanied by excitement, rush of fear, melancholy, anger, and a sudden rush of hallucinations.
The visions are usually frightening in content. Aggressive destructive actions directed at loved ones occur.