KIROV ANNOUNCES REPERTORY FOR SHRINE PROGRAM

The Kirov Ballet of Leningrad has announced the ballets to be danced on its “Highlights” programs, May 25 and 26 in Shrine Auditorium.

The programs include Mikhail Fokine’s “Chopiniana” (known outside Russia as “Les Sylphides”), Act III (“The Kingdom of the Shades”) from Marius Petipa’s “La Bayadere” and divertissements from Petipa’s “Paquita.”

All three ballets are familiar to local audiences from performances by American Ballet Theatre and other companies. Indeed, Fokine restaged “Les Sylphides” throughout his career and most productions are based on versions other than the St. Petersburg “Chopiniana” of 1908. However, all the Western stagings of Petipa’s “La Bayadere” (1877) and “Paquita” (1881) are based on the Kirov versions.

Along with “Swan Lake” (which the Kirov is scheduled to dance locally May 21-24), “The Kingdom of the Shades” and “Les Sylphides” are considered among the most exacting showpieces for corps de ballet women in the classical repertory.