Programme:
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Pas de deux from Swan Lake
Marius Petipa, Rudolf Nureyev, choreographers
Cast: Liudmila Konovalova (Wiener Staatsballett), Vsevolod Maievskyi  (English National Ballet)

Caravaggio
Bruno Moretti, Claudio Monteverdi, music
Mauro Bigonzetti, choreographer
Cast: Nicoletta Manni, Timofej Andrijashenko (Balletto del Teatro alla Scala)

Luminious
Max Richter, music
András Lukács, choreographer
Cast: Tatyjana Melnyik, Motomi Kiyota (Hungarian National Ballet)

History of Tango
Ástor Piazzolla, music
Artemy Belyakov, choreographer
Cast: Artemy Belyakov, Svetlana Zakharova (Bolshoi Theatre)

Adolphe Adam: Fragment from Le Corsaire
Marius Petipa, choreographer
Cast: Kristina Kretova, Igor Tsvirko (Bolshoi Theatre)

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Diamonds Pas de deux
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, music
George Balanchine, choreographer
Cast: Liudmila Konovalova (Wiener Staatsballett), Vsevolod Maievskyi (English National Ballet)

Variations on an Anatolian Folksong
Carlo Domeniconi, music
Artemy Belyakov, choreographer
Cast: Artemij Beljakov (Bolshoi Theatre)

Grand pas Classique
Daniel François Esprit Auber, music
Viktor Gsovsky, choreographer
Cast: Nicoletta Manni, Timofej Andrijashenko (Balletto del Teatro alla Scala)

Aram Khachaturian: Fragment from Spartacus
Yury Grigorovich, choreographer
Cast: Kristina Kretova, Igor Tsvirko (Bolshoi Theatre)

Swan
Camile Saint-Saëns: Swan from Carnival of the Animals, music
Michel Fokine, choreographer
Cast: Svetlana Zakharova (Bolshoi Theatre)

Ludwig Minkus: Pas de deux from Don Quixote
Boris Asafovich Messerer, choreographer
Cast: Tatyjana Melnyik, Motomi Kiyota (Hungarian National Ballet)

Prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova captivates audiences and critics with her formidable technique and sparkling dramatic interpretation of every possible role. She has been a member of the Bolshoi Ballet since 2003. Returning to the Ljubljana Festival after an interval of five years, she will be joined by colleagues Artemy Belyakov, who joined the Bolshoi after graduating from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy and winning second prize at the Young Ballet Artists Competition in Krasnoyarsk in 2010, Kristina Kretova, a member of the company since the 2011/12 season, and Igor Tsvirko, a principal dancer of the Bolshoi Ballet since 2022. Also appearing will be Liudmila Konovalova, a first soloist of the Vienna State Ballet since 2011; Vsevolod Maievskyi, a member of the English National Ballet since 2023; two members of the Corpo di Ballo del Teatro alla Scala – Nicoletta Manni, prima ballerina since 2014, and Timofej Andrijashenko, a principal dancer of the company since 2018; and Tatyjana Melnyik and Motomi Kiyota, members of the Hungarian National Ballet since, respectively, 2015 and 2019. Over the two halves of the evening, the dancers will present a selection of some of the most stunning excerpts from classical and romantic ballet, as well as works from the 20th and 21st centuries. The Ljubljana audience will be treated to excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake;  Mauro Bigonzetti’s Caravaggio,  with music by Bruno Moretti based on the music of the Renaissance composer Claudio Monteverdi; Luminous  by the post-minimalist Max Richter; History of Tango  by the Argentinian musical revolutionary Astor Piazzolla; and a fragment of a classical ballet by Adolphe Adam. The programme will continue after the interval with a piece by George Balanchine to music by Tchaikovsky; Variations on an Anatolian Folk Song  by Carlo Domeniconi, a composer known for his adoption of multicultural influences; a piece choreographed by Viktor Gsovsky to music by Daniel Auber; and fragments from Khachaturian’s heroic Spartacus  and the romantic repertoire as represented by Camille Saint-Saëns and Ludwig Minkus.