On 26 and 27 March, the People's Artist of the USSR choreographer Valentin Elizariev presented the premiere of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's ballet at the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus. It is the fifth production of The Sleeping Beauty on the Belarusian stage.
For the first time this production appeared at the Bolshoi in 1954 (conducted by Joseph Abramis, choreography by Konstantin Muller). Ballet legends Nina Mlodzinskaya, Alexandra Nikolaeva, Tamara Karavaeva, Basia Karpilova, Lydia Ryazhenova, Tamara Uzunova, Evgeny Glinskikh, Semyon Drechin, Valery Mironov performed the leading roles in that production. In 1970 conductor Tatyana Kolomiitseva and choreographer Nina Fedorova presented their production. It featured Lyudmila Brzhozovskaya, Nina Davydenko, Klara Malysheva, Yury Trayan, Olga Lappo, Viktor Sarkisyan. In 1990 conductor Alexander Anissimov and choreographer Irina Kolpakova invited the audience to the fairy tale again. This time, no less renowned Natella Dadishkiliani, Inessa Dushkevich, Tatyana Ershova, Vladimir Dolgikh, Veniamin Zakharov, Tatyana Shemetovets appeared in the lead roles.
In 2001, conductor Nikolai Koliadko and choreographer Valentin Elizariev worked together on this production, and Olga Gaiko, Lyudmila Kudryavtseva, Igor Artamonov, Alexander Furman, Marina Vezhnovets, Ruslan Minin appeared on stage. This production lives in the Bolshoi for 22 seasons. It is a lot. ‘But The Sleeping Beauty should always be in “shape”,’ Valentin Elizariev stressed at the artistic council. We want to remind that over the past two years the choreographer has presented his versions of The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. Elizariev prepared the premiere of The Sleeping Beauty in March 2022. It was a kind of gift to the audience for the Theatre Day. Thus, the choreographer completed his work on Tchaikovsky's "ballet triptych".
The designer of the new production is Vyacheslav Okunev. The People's Artist of Russia worked on two previous productions at the Bolshoi. This time, the set design and costumes refer us to two beautiful and so different eras: on the one hand, it is luxurious Baroque, on the other – strict Classicism.